


Come Undone

by KaibaGirl007



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug Use, F/M, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Mental Health Issues, Relationship breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23070709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaibaGirl007/pseuds/KaibaGirl007
Summary: Kaiba reaches the point in his relationship with Kisara where he feels ready for marriage. Unfortunately, fear overrides things and his life spirals out of control. - A story about deteriorating mental health, DO NOT READ IF EASILY TRIGGERED.
Relationships: Kaiba Seto/Kisara
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	1. The Break-up

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been created and expanded upon using my roleplay (and mini side-fic series) with dragontamer05 over on Tumblr. The majority of it is told from Kaiba’s POV, sometimes Mokuba (other characters make appearances too) It is therefore mostly my work, with permission from dragontamer05 to include bits of her replies (Kisara’s parts) into the mix, as well as the appearance of her/Kisara’s dragon spirit (Blue) in a later chapter. 
> 
> As already mentioned, this is a story of deteriorating mental health. Other themes such as sex, drugs, alcohol abuse, rejection, rape, self-harm, will be mentioned/touched upon. There’s also plenty of bad language too. 
> 
> If you like what you’ve read PLEASE leave kudos and/or a comment in the reviews (criticism is also welcome) as it helps keep me motivated and is greatly appreciated.
> 
> Enjoy! ^_^

[Text to Yukisa] I’m running slightly behind schedule and unfortunately, it’s going to have a knock-on effect for our plans.

[Text to Yukisa] Not sure how long it’ll be before I can join you at the restaurant. I don’t want to keep you waiting there all on your own, so come to Kaiba Corp and once I’m done here we’ll go someplace else for lunch instead.

[Text to Yukisa] Sorry this inconvenience had to happen on your birthday. I promise to make it up to you tonight x

Once the messages were sent, Kaiba leant back in his chair and anxiously fumbled his smartphone still in his hands. He felt bad about having just lied to his girlfriend, even though it was for a good reason. At least he hoped she would see it that way…

Although rocky at first, his patience had prevailed and their relationship repaired to the point where he felt things were back to how they used to be before Kisara’s kidnapping. Though if he’d misjudged things at all, and was moving too fast, then it might not turn out to be quite the surprise he’d planned.

The smartphone was placed on his desk and he reached into his pocket to produce the engagement ring he’d selected and purchased the day before; platinum band, with a square cut aquamarine flanked by two round, near-flawless, grade F diamonds. It cost him ¥5,000,000, and whilst his girlfriend would think it an outrageous amount if she ever found out its price tag, it certainly wasn’t the most expensive that had been presented in order for him to make his choice. But had he chosen right?

An uncertain feeling began to stir in his stomach. What if she didn’t like it? Or worse; what if she didn’t want to marry him? Was this too soon after everything they had both gone through? Hmm, he supposed he ‘might’ be able to pass it off as just a birthday gift, _IF_ he presented it to Kisara without going down on one knee. The chances of that happening though were virtually nil as he intended on proposing the traditional way right there in his office.

_Stop worrying so much, of course she’ll say yes._ The confident voice in his head stomped on his doubts. Knowing that it wouldn’t be too long before Kisara arrived, the CEO made use of the time to practise his proposal.

After having practised going down on one knee more than a dozen times already,- and reciting his proposal in equally as many variations,- the CEO wasn’t going to have to worry about missing a leg workout routine that week. He then pondered to himself, still not entirely sure if he was doing things right.

_Maybe I should present the ring before kneeling? It would certainly make things easier if I didn’t have to worry about taking it out of my pocket once in position. But then again, it wouldn’t have quite the same impact as it being presented simultaneously with my words… Hmm?_

His phone sounded to alert him of an incoming text. Was that Kisara informing him of her arrival? Nope, it was only his inquisitive brother.

[Text from Mokie] You asked her yet?

He responded with a simple: ‘Not yet’, soon followed up by: ‘You’ll be the first I inform once I HAVE asked the question.’

[Text from Mokie] Good luck bro. Not that you’ll need it or anything.

The phone on his desk rang whilst reading his brother’s second text and he answered it right away. “Kaiba.” He then listened as the secretary informed him of Kisara waiting for him outside his office. “I’m just finishing up, please send her in.”

He placed the desk phone back on its base and pocketed both his smartphone and engagement ring. Sitting down in his chair he then opened several tabs on his computer to make it look as though he was working. _Okay, this is it. Any moment now, I’m going to ask Yukisa to marry me._

His excitement didn’t last long as intruding thoughts were quick to take hold:

_'Making Kisara your wife isn’t going to save her from harm. The person she needs protecting from most is YOURSELF! You’re the one to blame… For everything! The kidnapping. The torture. The rape. The gunshot wound. Her current state of mind-‘_

_No, no, no! We’ve talked through this already!_ Kaiba argued back with the voice in his head. _I’m NOT to blame for what happened to her!_

_'But you don’t believe that… do you?’_

_The door to his office opened._

“Hey, I do hope you aren’t planning to make a habit out of suddenly changing things last minute.” Kisara teased lightly as she entered his office not really bothering to fully latch the door. She wasn’t mad really, things happened plans changed. “Ready to go? I was thinking and we might still be able to get a seat at the Moonflower. Unless you’d rather go someplace else?” 

Kisara’s presence drew the CEO from his darkening thoughts. He looked at her standing there dressed in the kimono she liked to wear for special occasions. For a moment he wondered if she had any idea of the proposal he was about to make, or if her birthday was purely what had warranted such attire.

_‘You’re no good for her.’_

“Almost ready. I just need to finish up here.” Kaiba tried to ignore the voice still talking inside his head and began closing down some of the tabs he’d not long ago opened. “Sure, we can see if we’re still able to get in at the Moonflower. My apologies for ruining the reservation.”

_'She can do SO MUCH BETTER; she DESERVES better.’_ Not only was the voice getting louder and more assertive inside his mind, but dark clouds were forming too. _'If she marries you, she’ll be subjected to MORE torment than that she’s already suffered. WORSE EVEN! You know it’s INEVITABLE! It’s what fate BEHOLDS her!’_

A growing rumble sounded from the dark clouds that had now surrounded him in his subconsciousness.

_“You’re doing it again.”_

Kaiba heard Atem’s voice first before seeing his friend’s soft glowing light join him in the darkness.

_“Your fear is creating this storm. If you don’t dispel it, it’ll grow into something far less controllable.”_ Despite the pharaoh’s attempt to calm the situation, lightning was beginning to appear within the clouds; a sign that the other was still feeling negative emotions _“Honestly Kaiba, didn’t our duels teach you anything?!”_

“They taught me plenty.” he scoffed. “Pity you didn’t choose to stick around and discuss them with me _after_ your duel with Yugi. If you had then ‘maybe’ I’d have come to another conclusion.“

The air around them violently whipped up and Atem had to raise his voice to make himself heard. “ _So what are you saying? You’re going to destroy what you both have out of spite?”_

“I’ve no spite for Kisara, only love. It won’t be easy, but I _HAVE_ to let her go.”

_“This ISN’T the way to go about things!”_

“And what would y-you suggest?”

The slight tremor to the other’s otherwise calm voice was the proof Atem needed; his friend was crying out for guidance. _“Continue with your proposal and create the future you both deserve.”_

Kaiba closed his eyes, partially to stop his bangs from whipping in them, and partially so his rival wouldn’t detect the low self-esteem they displayed. Whilst he had no doubts about how much Kisara deserved the world, he, on the other hand, had been conditioned into believing he was less so.

When he reopened his eyes he was back in his office once more. His heart was heavy with the decision he’d made but he would not allow himself to be the one to prevent Kisara from finding true happiness, even if it wasn’t with himself. 

Slowly he made his way from behind his desk. He wasn’t looking forward to what he was about to do, but at least it was a selfless act to set her free; just like that idiot prince who had sacrificed his chance at happiness so that the woman he’d loved could transform into a unicorn once more in that movie they had watched together.

“Kisara, I’ve no desire to lead you on. Whilst this may be a shock and hard for you to digest, I…” He couldn’t bring himself to look at her as he continued so slightly turned his head. "I think we should break up.”

“Yuh-You’re dumping me? But..but w-why?” Kisara asked upon finding her voice and trying to keep it steady. 

Kaiba heard the heartache as she questioned him. Even without looking, his mind could clearly picture her crestfallen face. It tore at him like he knew it would, and for a brief moment, he even wondered if it was too late to reconsider his choice and take back his already spoken words. _Surely there has to be another option?_

_‘There is NO OTHER option.’_

_What if I talked to her about these fears?_

_‘WHAT USE WILL TALKING DO?! It’s NOT going to stop her from being a target for anyone else seeking revenge against you! It’s NOT going to stop her from any kind of violation or suffering! Nor will it prevent an untimely DEATH!’_

Kisara’s gaze dropped, she was trying to keep her composure, “I..I’m sorry for making you feel unwanted and pushing you away when I know you only wanted to help.”

Frustrated with his inner vacillation Kaiba clenched his fist tightly. It began to shake by his side as he listened to Kisara apologise for how she’d rejected and recoiled from his well-meaning attempts of help. _Great, now she thinks this is her fault! I won’t let her believe that, I NEED to talk things through with her!-_

_‘NO!! You HAVE to let her GO in order to keep her safe. PUSH harder and CHASE her away if you have to! MAKE her see the monster you truly are.’_

Kaiba breathed in slow and deep, allowed his fist to unclench as he straightened himself up and turned to face Kisara with a stoical face. “I’m tired of this charade. The fact of the matter is… I _NEVER_ loved you. Not a single bit. You were simply easy to play. And now I’m bored.”

Kisara visibly flinched back at his words. Everything he’d said, the promises he’d made had been a lie? All those times spent together, those nights, had they really meant nothing to him? And what about the sad story of his childhood had that been another lie too? She didn’t want to believe what he was saying, but what other reason would he have for saying such things?

“I don’t…I don’t believe you. You’re saying none of it mattered, not even when we…when we.. made love?” She blushed a bit and swallowed hard feeling tears starting to well up, beneath the sadness a wave of anger started to boil as well. It wasn’t just her that he tricked and toyed with but her best friend and her family too and that was unforgivable. 

“ _NONE_ of it mattered,” he emphasised, knowing he’d have to up his game in order to make her believe the deception. “Like I said, ‘you were easy to play’, as proven by how _EFFORTLESS_ it was for me to persuade you to open your legs.” Although he was purposely going for vile, a part of him felt that maybe he’d gone too far with the last remark when considering all she had been through. 

A part of Kisara wasn’t fully convinced, there had to be more to this, something just felt wrong to her about the whole thing. “So…so if this really was just some sick game to you I assume Mokuba was in on it too? Or was he just another toy?” 

Mention of his brother caused a genuine flare of anger and sent Kaiba striding towards her.

“Let me _MAKE_ something clear!” he snarled as he came to a standstill in front of Kisara, his finger pointing directly at her in an aggressive manner. “ _THIS_ is about _YOU_ and _ME_! _MOKUBA_ has _NOTHING_ to do with _ANY_ of it! He’s an innocent bystander. His responses to the pair of us being together were nothing but heartfelt and true. He _didn’t_ play you, and I most certainly _DIDN’T_ play him…”

Having proclaimed his brother’s innocence, Kaiba lowered his hand and took a single step back. He was annoyed with himself at having been so easily provoked. Had she done that intentionally as retaliation for what he’d said to her? Regardless of whether or not she had, he knew he damn well-deserved anything that came back at him in this argument.

“And what about the man who kidnapped me?” Kisara took a deep breath her hands shaking, “Was that just a coincidence or was he part of your twisted fantasy. With your connections and money, I’m sure it’d be easy to hire someone to do the deed.” Admittedly even she had difficulty believing that last part. Even if what he’d said was true about not loving her and only having been toying with her, would he really go that far as to stage a kidnapping? 

“The kidnapping was pure coincidence.” The fact she had described it as his ‘twisted fantasy’, and the suggestion he’d hired someone to carry it out, wounded him that she could even think he’d be that cruel. At least it was proof his lies were being believed. Now to put a little more weight behind them with as much spin as possible.

“ _If_ it had at all been feasible, I _would_ have washed my hands of you back then and _left_ you at that bastard’s mercy. But since the media had developed a growing interest in our _‘relationship’_ prior to it all, it would have damaged my public image if I were to be seen doing nothing to get you back. _THAT’S_ why I made a great big song and dance about conducting your rescue; _NOT_ because I was concerned, but because I was _OBLIGED_ to in their eyes… Heh, you’re lucky you had such a good friend who approached me with wanting to aid in finding you because nobody else gave a fuck.“

Kisara tried to stand her ground, the sleeves of her Kimono thankfully hiding her shaking hands. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

“I trusted you, I stood up for you. But I guess he was right, you are just a heartless monster who only cares about money.” She still didn’t want to believe what her kidnapper had said, but his words mixing with her own fears and doubts had started to convince her otherwise. Why had she ever let herself believe someone would love her, that Seto Kaiba the owner and CEO of one the biggest, if not the biggest gaming company in Japan would ever show an inkling of interest in a quiet little cafe waitress.

Kaiba was starting to get restless now as he found it more and more difficult to keep up the heartless act. Why hadn’t Kisara just gone when he’d told her they should break up? Why did she have to remain here to seek answers and make this even more difficult for him? 

“Standing by you during your recovery was pretty much the same situation; all of it done as a show for the media,” he idly plunged his hands into his pockets and slowly paced up so close to Kisara that they were almost touching. He knew his looming presence was an intimidating enough factor, but now coupled with his sharp piercing eyes hanging over her like two swords eager to strike, he was ready to go for the kill that would surely sever them both… no matter how much he’d come to regret it.

“Honestly Kisara, if not for upholding my image, _why else_ would I consider keeping you around? Like I already said, _I never loved you_. And after what _HE_ did to you… well, you’re soiled goods now.” He leant towards her ear and whispered, "I _don’t like_ 'sloppy seconds’.”

A wash of revulsion made her want to throw up as she took a step back in horror, her heart thundering. He knew of her rape, somehow he knew about it the whole time and had never said a thing. But how had he known? So many emotions flowed through her all at once. It was hard to think and the lights began to flicker.

The moment she’d stepped back from him, Kaiba knew he’d succeeded with his task. However, he felt no satisfaction from seeing the traumatised look on her face, knowing that he’d broken her, perhaps even beyond repair. _What have I done?_ His eyes became drawn to the flickering lights. Was that Kisara’s power doing that? Had he intimidated her so much that she was about to unleash her dragon on him? As he wondered to himself, he failed to see her hand move swiftly to strike him hard across the face… 

**_Thwack!_**

“Cuh-Call me names, drag me down do what you want I-I don’t care. I’ve dealt with bullies before. But you know the worst part is? You dragged Isa, my best friend, into your lies. And not just her, but her family…MY family into it too. They welcomed you, treated you like family.” 

Shocked, yet knowing the slap had been justified, Kaiba made no attempt to counterattack,- neither physically or verbally,- as Kisara went on to say her piece. He hadn’t even given thought to Isabel and her parents in any of this. Kisara had already made it clear that the Corazóns considered her family, so it was evident just whose side they would take when news of the lies he’d spun for their break-up made it’s way to them. 

Taking a deep breath Kisara slipped the ring from her finger before tossing it on the floor in front of him “Here I’m sure you want this back since it was clearly just a waste of money… Consider this goodbye Kaiba.” She was near the brink of tears and struggling to hold them back as she spoke, but there was a clear quiver in her voice. She made her way to the door, and without bothering to look back she hurried out. As the door slammed behind her all the lights in the room burst.

Kaiba stared down at the Claddagh ring tossed at his feet. It had been a gift he’d given her for a previous birthday to symbolise his friendship, loyalty and heart as hers. She wasn’t just returning a piece of expensive jewellery, it was a clear statement of ridding herself of him and his affections. No further words would have been needed, but the fact she’d also reverted back to addressing him by his surname before fleeing the room only dug the knife deeper into his heart.

Now alone in the slightly darkened office, he dared to touch his face where Kisara had hit him with quite some force. He winced as his fingertips barely brushed over his cheekbone that he knew was going to bruise just as badly as his aching heart. _This wasn’t supposed to happen, not like this. All I wanted to do was keep her safe._

He awaited the loud prominent voice from before to return and congratulate him, or at least assure that he’d done the right thing despite his dismay.

It didn’t come; only silence filled his office and head.


	2. Dubiety

Mokuba sat reading comic books in the living room whilst waiting for the text to say the proposal had been made. By his side, he had a huge party popper that he planned to set off and congratulate the happy couple on their engagement. Just as soon as his brother texted to say they’d be on their way home, he’d lie in wait and-…

The sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard. _They’re home? Seto never texted me!_ He furiously checked his phone only to see that the battery had died. _Oops. That’s why I didn’t hear from him._

Grabbing the party popper, Mokuba raced into the entrance hall with it positioned at arm's length in front of him. “Congratulations on your engagement!” he shouted as he pulled the string and blindly sent a shower of confetti and streamers towards Kisara.

“Engaged? W-What in the world are you going on about?” She sniffed staring at him in confusion, with eyes already red from crying. “I’m…We’re not engaged, and you may as well forget it ever happening because he dumped me.”She told him sadly knowing it wasn’t his fault he was just as much a victim in this as she was.

“Seto _dumped_ you? That makes _NO sense!_ He was excited. He was going to propose. He _showed me_ the ring last night!”

With a shaky breath, Kisara started to the living room and began gathering any items of hers she could find. “I-I’m sorry Mokuba but it was all just a lie, he..he tricked us both. Your brother never loved me,” She swallowed hard holding back a fresh wave of tears.

“No that’s _NOT_ true! Seto _does_ love you, You mean _everything_ to him, maybe even more than I do.” Confused tears began to form in his eyes as he watched her gather more things in her arms. “Something’s not right here, h-he wouldn’t use us like this… I _KNOW_ my brother, Kisa; there’s a reason, we _need_ to find out what it is. What happened exactly?“

“I don’t know but he made it perfectly clear that I mean nothing to him.” Biting her lip Kisara held back trying not to yell or snap at Mokuba. There had been no love in his brother’s words and when she’d looked into those eyes, she’d seen many emotions; anger, annoyance, disgust but no love or kindness. “You’re welcome to go ask him yourself… but I’m done. I want no part of it.”

Mokuba did his best to not burst into tears and cry as he listened to Kisara talk. There was a harshness to her voice he’d never heard before, though given her anguished state it was to have been expected. “You wouldn’t be so quick to say that if you’d seen him yourself during your kidnapping!” he snapped before pursing his lips. Getting angry wasn’t going to solve or even help the situation, but perhaps if Kisara knew how much his brother had worried about her during that time, it might make her reconsider leaving right now. “I’m not going to excuse what he’s said or done, I just think you should be aware of how he handled things back then, so just hear me out…”

Staying quiet she listened to Mokuba speak. Fresh tears threatened to run down her cheeks. She wanted to believe, gods she did but she couldn’t shake what had been said to her, the look in Kaiba’s eyes, his tone of voice, it all went against what Mokuba was saying. You didn’t say those sorts of gross, horrible things to someone you love.

Breathing deep, Mokuba began to recall past events. “Although Seto put on a front to appear confident when communicating with the kidnapper, he was anything but. He was beside himself with worry over you; constantly fidgeting, sinking into his own thoughts and trying to figure out a way to get you back swiftly _without_ putting you at risk. The taunts, threats and demands he received from the kidnapper prevented him from being able to involve the police. Even so, he wasn’t going to sit back and do nothing. He had Roland checking hours _and hours_ worth of the city’s surveillance cameras for clues whilst Pegasus and myself did our best to assure him he wasn’t at fault and that he’d get you back safely. He was handling things pretty well until…”

His words trailed off and he became hesitant as to whether or not he should continue. After all, he’d promised his brother that he wouldn’t ever reveal to Kisara,- or anyone,- what had happened next. But at the same time, wasn’t it keeping such secrets that had helped lead to this? She deserved to know the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it made him, her or his brother feel. He continued, “Until the kidnapper sent a video of… of him…r-raping you.”

At the mention of the video, Kisara’s arms dropped along with everything else she was holding. No, no, no! That couldn’t be true, not only did Kaiba know but he’d seen it, how the kidnapper had overpowered her despite her struggles. Her vision became blurred as she was overcome with a new wash of tears and dropped to her knees. “I didn’t think…He…he wasn’t supposed to know…I never wanted him to know.” She croaked weakly between soft sobs holding herself, the pain in her chest sharper than ever. When would this nightmare end? “Who….who else knows about this?”

How the hell and why his brother would purposely cause Kisara such upset was unfathomable. It was torture seeing her cry. Even more so now Mokuba knew he’d just contributed towards her dismay himself by revealing the kidnapper had recorded and distributed such a vile act. Understandably it was something she wanted to forget about, but why hadn’t she or Seto mentioned it to each other? Surely they’d have been able to overcome their feelings together instead of them each keeping it a dark secret each to themselves.

Mokuba looked away in discomfort as he answered her question. “A few know about the video, of those few only Seto and the guy he entrusted to find the warehouse’s location ever saw it. I heard some of the audio, as did Pegasus who was the one to snatch Seto’s phone and stop the video from playing. Roland’s aware of it all having happened, but that’s all. As for the video itself, Seto erased the file he’d been sent the first chance he got after your rescue. Whether or not the police found the original on the kidnapper’s phone, I don’t know… What I do know though, is that you shouldn’t feel ashamed. You did nothing wrong and _nobody_ thinks any less of you for having been a victim.”

He sniffed and used his sleeve to wipe away the tears lingering in his eyes before straightening himself up and facing Kisara once more. “When it happened, Seto was so distraught by what he saw that he was violently sick. After that, it became harder to get him to think rationally or remain even remotely calm. He just wanted you back before you were made to suffer any more, regardless of what it would take. I was _so mad_ at him for having made the city-wide announcement on the blimp, and I didn't hold back when I let my feelings known either. It was _right_ before the kidnapper called for the very last time. Seto was quite delirious by then. When the sound of the gunshot came down the line as he shot you, absolute horror hit us all like a truck. Then the doctored image of you came through… and I saw red.”

There was a brief pause as Mokuba sadly thought back to that moment. "I lunged at Seto, pummelling, screaming and ready to tear him to pieces for his recklessness. Somehow Pegasus managed to pull me away and into another room where he calmed me down enough to try and explain the situation from my brother’s perspective. How his sorrow and desperation had resorted him to second-guessing the kidnapper’s moves as though it were a game of chess; one that he’d regrettably lost.”

More silence and a growing sensation of extreme discomfort crept upon him. “I don’t know how much Seto’s told you about our adoptive father, but he _wasn’t_ a very nice man. He resented adopting us and put Seto through hell with an extremely advanced learning program and a vigorously strict disciplinary system. One mantra he forced upon him was that _‘failure means death’;_ turns out it wasn’t just something he meant metaphorically. Unfortunately, it’s had a lasting effect on Seto. So much so that he was wracked with so much guilt for what he was led to believe was your death, and was prepared to take his own life.”

Tears began to well up again and his lip constantly trembled as he spoke. “I was s-so s-scared when I s-saw him s-standing there at the o-open window r-ready to jump… I m-managed to talk him out of it, and h-held him whilst he cried.” He wiped his eyes and looked directly at Kisara, his voice now sounding more stable. “You should note, that was the first and only time I’ve seen Seto cry since he was _nine_ years old… Think what you want, but _DON’T YOU DARE_ tell me again that he doesn’t love you _or_ that you mean nothing to him!” He stared in an assertive manner that he’d seen his brother use a million times or more. Unlike his brother though, he lacked the gall to display his vexation for very long and soon dropped his glare.

Shakily choking back tears Kisara looked at Mokuba, her heart ached for him. Truthfully she’d hoped to avoid this to just pack up and leave quietly,She understood how he felt but she was struggling to believe what had been said. “Loves me or not, whatever his reason he…he’s made clear that I’m not wanted anymore.”

“Look, I’ll go talk to him and see if I can get to the bottom of this. Continue to pack your bags if you must, but _please_ don’t leave until I get back.” Mokuba pulled out his phone to call for someone to come pick him up, only to remember that the battery had died. _Look’s like I’ll be using the landline instead._ Before that though, there was something else he really needed to do first as he walked up to Kisara, wrapped his arms around her and blubbed, “I’m sorry.“

“No, you have nothing to apologize for.” She hugged him back “It’s not your fault, Your brother’s choices are his own… I’m just sorry things didn’t work out like we’d hoped.”


	3. The Fallout

**** _‘I’m just sorry things didn’t work out like we’d hoped.’_

Kisara’s words lingered in Mokuba’s mind during the limo ride to Kaiba Corp. From the sound of it she’d already given up, so was there even any point of him trying to sort things out? Yes, because he still had hope; a mindset his brother had taught him during their days at the orphanage…

_‘Hope is a powerful force, Mokie. It motivates us to persevere through life’s setbacks, provides us with the strength to conquer our fears, and will light the way in a world of darkness. Sometimes it’s all you have when,- like us,- you have nothing… Always hold it close Mokie; if you do you’ll have EVERYTHING, and real magic will happen.’_

To this day Mokuba still wasn’t sure what constituted as ‘real magic’. Was it the life that they’d built since that time? Their unwavering brotherhood? Both? Was it too far of a stretch to cling to, and think of the possibility of his brother and Kisara happily spending the rest of their lives together, as part of that magic also?

_I won’t give up hope, no matter how hard things seem!_ Now standing outside of his brother’s office, he gently knocked on the door before entering. “Seto, are you in here?“

Inside the room, Mokuba was met with the reverse of his brother’s high-backed chair as Kaiba sat looking out of the window across Domino’s skyline. Calmly the older brother spoke, “What are you doing here, Mokuba?”

“I er… saw Kisara,” he spoke hesitantly as he closed the door and moved further into the room. As he approached the desk he noticed the Claddagh ring and his brother’s dragon wing pendant on its surface, along with a half-full bottle of whiskey. “She was very upset. She um… said you dumped her.”

“What else did she say?” Kaiba asked whilst glancing down at the remainder of his drink that he’d been nursing. He should have known that news would travel back to his brother before he’d gotten the chance to speak with him first. His brother wasn’t shouting and screaming though, which meant Kisara obviously hadn’t told him everything. But then again, Mokuba always was good at controlling his temper and emotions.

_He’s not denying it?!_ The younger brother’s heart sank at hearing the other’s cool query. A part of him had not wanted to believe what Kisara had said and had hoped it had all been some kind of big misunderstanding. The fact his brother hadn’t argued otherwise well and truly buried that hope. “She didn’t go into details, but whatever you said has distraught her. She feels as though she was simply used and tossed aside. She’s ready to leave and is packing her things right now.”

“Good,” he responded and downed the contents of his short stubby tumbler.

“ _Good?!_ What _the hell_ is going on Seto? This morning you-…” Mokuba’s words suddenly caught in his throat as the chair turned and he caught sight of his brother’s face; the left side completely red with tinges of purple and blue surfacing along the cheekbone. His eyes widened whilst his mind struggled to grasp what had happened. “She _hit_ you?”

“It was well deserved,” Kaiba said as he poured himself another drink of the whiskey which would normally only ever be produced to commemorate a successful contract signing with his business partners. His lips twitched in their corners when he next spoke, “To be honest, I got off rather lightly.”

The grin trying to materialise on his brother’s face made Mokuba outraged in a way no words ever could. Was the smirk caused by effects of the alcohol, or did Seto genuinely think it funny? “You shouldn’t be drinking. How many have you had?”

“I’ve not had a half-bottle worth if that’s what you’re thinking.” he peered over the rim of the glass whilst taking a sip. It was the truth and yet still a lie. Whilst it had been a newly opened bottle, he’d drank all of the missing content so far _apart_ from the small spillage during his first pouring.

Mokuba wanted to snatch the drink from his brother’s hand but knew that it wouldn’t help the situation. He remained calm and attempted to ask again to find out more details. “What happened bro? You were so excited about proposing to her. What went wrong? Did you change your mind?”

Kaiba placed his drink down on the desk. “No… I didn’t change my mind. I’d still like for her to be my wife, I…” For a brief moment, he considered opening up, only to remember who it was that he would be burdening with his troubles. He couldn’t do that to his baby brother again, especially not after having asked him to keep silent in regards to certain events from during Kisara’s ordeal. “Forget it. You’ll understand someday when you’re older, I’ll explain then.”

“No Seto, I don’t want you to explain when I’m older!… Make _someday, TODAY._ ”

Silence.

This wasn’t going as Mokuba had planned, but at least he wasn’t being pushed away.There was still a chance his brother could fix things. Having just admitted to him that he still wanted to marry Kisara, clearly his love for her hadn’t changed. “You know, there’s still time for you to put this right. She hasn’t gone yet. Go talk to her-“

“ _DON’T_ give advice on something you know _NOTHING_ about.”

“I know that you love her.” Mokuba frowned as he watched his brother take another sip of whiskey. “And she loves you. You both deserve to be happy after everything the two of you have been through. Don’t throw that away over… whatever it is that’s happened.”

More silence, only this time Kaiba thought about what had been said. Where had his little brother learnt such optimism, compassion, and rational thinking? He was certainly mature beyond his years, more than he himself would ever be. But would Kisara accept an apology and explanation for his behaviour? He’d said some pretty awful and deeply regrettable things to her. Would she ever forgive him? There was only one way he’d find out…

“Before you talk to her though, there’s _something_ you need to be aware of.” Mokuba felt he needed to come clean and give his brother the heads up about the new information Kisara now had. “I um, told her about… you know. What happened… back then.”

Kaiba almost choked on his drink, “ _YOU VIOLATED MY TRUST?!_ ”

“I was _worried_ about you. _And_ Kisara. I _thought_ it would help if she knew- ” the younger brother gave his reasoning to an angry glare.

“And did it?”

Silence fell but was soon broken with a rather weak, “I don’t know.”

Knocking back the rest of his drink didn’t have the calming effect Kaiba had hoped for. He was furious with his brother for having divulged such sensitive information he’d have preferred to stay hidden. What good would it have done to reveal it to Kisara? It would only distress her and further prove what a wretched, cowardly, human being he was.

“You’d stay out of this if you knew what was good for you.” Kaiba reached for the bottle once more. He needed to drown the rising resentment before it took control of him.

“ _NO_ , I _won’t_ abandon you, Seto!” Mokuba snatched the glass away before his brother could pour the alcohol into it. “Let me help you fix things with Kisara.”

“ _WHY_ is it so important to you?” Kaiba growled as he screwed the lid back onto the whiskey. He wanted another drink but wasn’t the uncouth kind that felt desperate enough to swig directly from the bottle. “She was _MY_ girlfriend, _NOT_ yours!”

“I love her too; she’s _my friend_ and _already_ like a sister to me.”

“You sure about that? Sure you don’t feel something _MORE_ for her?” the questions sounded like a challenge from a jealous boyfriend as Kaiba continued to get even more frustrated with his brother. _I wish you little traitor would just leave me alone right now!_

“What?… She’s too old for me, and I would _NEVER_ take her from you.”

“Heh, _too old_ you say?” he was toying with his brother now. An opening for an opportunity to shove Mokuba away had just presented itself and he was going to take it. “Then do you possibly see her as a mother figure? Are you hoping she’ll replace Mom?…”

“What part of _‘like a sister to me’_ don’t you understand?”

“… Of course, Mom _wouldn’t_ need replacing if _YOU_ hadn’t killed her!” As Kaiba had anticipated, those words hit their target like a bullseye. He watched with barely a trace of guilt as the other struggled to keep himself from crying and threw the empty glass across the room.

“ _YOU ARE_ ** _FUCKING_** _UNBELIEVABLE!!_ ” the younger brother barely managed to bellow his anguish before he tried,- and failed,- to prevent the sobs and tears. Why would his brother say something so traumatising and mean? Yes, their mother died giving birth to him, but he _wasn’t_ responsible for her death. At least that was what the other had spent over a decade worth of birthdays trying to drum it into him. It was only during the last few years that he’d started to believe it too, and now this? All because he’d only wanted to help him?

Mokuba had no doubts now. Whatever had been said to Kisara, he bet it had been just as despicable and didn’t blame her for wanting to leave. She deserved so much better. His brother, on the other hand, he needed to learn that he couldn’t carry on lashing out like this. He’d seriously hurt him on two occasions now and he wasn’t going to allow him a third opportunity. It was down to him now, to deal out a dose of the other’s own medicine and fight fire with fire.

Having stopped his tears Mokuba caught his breath and stared back with a hateful and menacing glare of his own.“Whilst we’re on the subject of Mom, didn’t it occur to you that maybe she and dad _NEVER_ loved you at all? That you were such a _DISAPPOINTMENT_ to them they decided to have _ME_? I’m even going to hazard a guess that Dad’s accident _WASN’T_ an accident after all and that he _PLANNED_ to drive the car into the lake all along-“

“ ** _SHUT UP!_** ”

There was a strong feeling of remorse inside the pit of the younger brother’s stomach as he saw the perturbed look on the other’s face. Clearly, he’d gone too far and wasn’t cut out for being purposely malicious with his words. “It hurts to hear such lies, doesn’t it Seto? And you know what else hurts? When people who were trying to help you no longer stick around. You’re my brother, and I’ll _always_ love you, but I _WON’T_ stand by and let you treat me like shit…that’s why… I’m moving out too.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Kaiba scoffed, not entirely certain if his brother was bluffing or not. “Where will you go?”

“I don’t care…” Mokuba was already halfway towards the door. “…just as long as it’s away from you.”

The door slammed and Kaiba found himself alone once more. His breath and body shook, and his eyes spaced out as he rest back in his chair. _Why did Mokuba have to come here and make things worse? Why couldn’t he have kept his nose out of it all?_

_‘You’ve only yourself to blame.’_ the voice came from just beyond his desk.

Kaiba glanced towards the voice and saw a young teen version of himself looking back at him with contempt. The younger him wore the white tunic suit which he had utterly despised. In this case, it was unkempt and torn and his hair was also out of place. The apparition cradled a broken arm,- he could remember the incident of his adopted father breaking it very vividly,- and stood with an undignified posture that indicated he would not be able to sit comfortably for the next two or three days.

_‘Look at yourself. You’re pathetic.’_

“Really?” he wasn’t going to be intimidated by some inferior hallucination of himself. “You have the nerve to call me such? You’re nothing but a weak, helpless, abused, scared little boy.”

_‘At least I always had Mokie’s support… How dare you treat him like that! …You wanted everything! You almost HAD everything! … Now you have nothing… Not even hope.’_

* * *

“Kisa! Are you still here?” Mokuba called out as he returned to the mansion. He received no reply so began his own search which he abandoned after seeing her room raided of the belongings she’d chosen to take. _That’s it… she’s really gone._

Fighting back more tears,- would they ever stop?,- he retreated to his room to pack his own bags for leaving. He’d hoped he be back in time before she left so he could have at least told her how things had gone; that and he selfishly wanted to be comforted right now.

His suitcase was grabbed from underneath the bed and hauled up onto the mattress for him to start packing. It was then he noticed a note:

**_Dear Mokuba,_ **

**_No matter how things go, thanks for at least trying to talk with your brother._ **

**_I promise that what happened between me and him, won’t affect our friendship._ **

**_You’re as innocent as I am and just as much a victim, unfortunately, caught in the middle of this mess. Sorry._ **

**_Need some time right now but if you still want to talk after this then please free to contact me anytime. (You’ve got my number)_ **

**_~ Kisa_ **

He read it and felt a tiny bit of happiness return at knowing that she still wanted to remain in contact with him. He folded the note and pocketed it whilst he packed.

Once he was done, he then wondered if he too should leave his brother a note. Though what would be the point since he’d already told him in person he was leaving? Then again, maybe he should tell Seto where he was going, purely to stop him from worrying? Sure his brother was a jerk, but he didn’t want him feeling suicidal again. But how could he tell him where he was going when he still didn’t know himself? _I’ll text him. On MY terms, and my terms only. That way we’ll still have contact, yet he’ll realise what he’s lost today… I hope._

As Mokuba came down the stairs, he saw an unexpected face enter the mansion. “Roland? Today’s your day off. What are you doing here?”

“I got a call from Fuguta,” he explained as he walked over to Mokuba. His eyes momentarily glanced towards the suitcase and rucksack behind his dark shades. “He seems extremely concerned for you and tells me you kept bursting into tears but refuse to say what’s wrong… Did something happen between you and your brother?”

Mokuba nodded and tried to keep himself from crying once more but failed as Roland’s arms slowly wrapped around him.


	4. A New Day

It was during the early hours of the next day that Kaiba arrived home. All the extra time he’d spent at Kaiba Corp had assured Kisara was long gone by now. His brother he already knew was staying ‘at a friend’s place’ according to the text he’d received, though it hadn’t been explained where. Still, they were both safe from any further harm he would unintentionally cause them if they’d stayed… Wasn’t that what he’d wanted?

He stumbled through the halls as he fought to keep his balance. Drinking nearly the whole bottle of whiskey had seemed like a good idea at the time as it numbed his pain, but now he was feeling the effects of too much alcohol in his system. The floor continuously moved,- suddenly and vigorously,- and his legs failed to comply in his desperate attempt to reach the bathroom. He soon vomited where he stood and gradually sank down to his knees when the flow failed to stop for more than a second at a time.

After a couple of minutes,- though they felt like hours,- of kneeling beside a huge puddle of regret of his own making, Kaiba got up and continued on his way. He reached the bathroom, washed his mouth and decided that rehydrating himself with a drink of water would be a sensible idea. It was, until his stomach rejected the fresh intake of fluid and caused him to throw up once more. This time he managed to shove his head inside the toilet bowl to avoid another large-scale mess.

Several waves of regurgitation later and he was finally dry retching. It was just as unpleasant experience, but at least there was no further mess. His stomach, chest and throat all hurt tremendously that he felt like he might cough up blood as a result of some kind of internal injury.

He didn’t, but still, the pain lingered as it reminded him how pathetic and worthless he truly was.

_Uggggh, I can’t stay here feeling sorry for myself._ He groaned inwardly as he pushed himself back from the toilet bowl and flushed away the foul-smelling contents. _I should stay busy and keep this feeling at bay._

He washed his mouth again and then using the walls to provide him with some additional support, Kaiba slowly made his way to his home office. There he intended to work and make up for the lost hours he’d cleared from his schedule to celebrate Kisara’s birthday… only the sight of the stuffed bunny sitting on his desk caught him off guard. He picked it up and defeatedly dropped back into his chair.

The ring Kisara had returned, he could understand the reasoning for that as it had once symbolised his love and affections towards her, but the plush..? He’d purchased it for her as a way to help comfort and soothe away the nightmares and insecurity that lingered from her kidnapping. Had his concern and empathy meant nothing to her? What about all the time, patience and tenderness he’d also given her during that gruelling period, had that meant nothing either? Was she set on forgetting all about him for good?

Tears began to flow as it hit him that he was now facing the consequences of his regrettably stupid actions. Sure he’d panicked and pushed her away in a reckless fashion with the foolish assumption he was doing the right thing in order to protect her, but did he really have to push so hard to make her think he hadn’t loved her at all? He buried his face in the soft white fur that still held her scent and wept until he lost consciousness a couple of hours later.

When Kaiba awoke, he found the plush stuck to his face and his head felt like it was caving in as though it had been hit with a wrecking ball. He peeled the bunny’s fur away from his cheek and mouth where his tears,- and possibly the remnants of some watery vomit,- had dried it to his skin and placed it on his desk. The sunlight shining through his home office window was harsh on his eyes and made the golden seams of the kintsukuroi blue-eyes figurine on his desk glister and assault them even further, as though it was some kind of bleak reminder of what had occurred the previous day.

_Wait a minute… if Kiara’s giving back all of the gifts I gave her, then why didn’t she take back the things she gave me? The blue-eyes isn’t like the necklace were she might have been too intimidated to ask for it back; she could have just taken it without my interference, so why didn’t she? Is it because she still sees the cracks as nothing but flaws? Didn’t she believe the things I told her during its restoration? Or is it because of the memories of us it now holds?_ He had a feeling that it was a little of all three.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out to see he had a message:

[Text from Roland] It’s gone 9am, where are you?

[Text to Roland] I’m working from home. It was decided yesterday. Did you not get the memo I put out?

Of course, it was a lie, one that sounded plausible and his authority less likely to be questioned by his longtime employee/friend. He then checked for further messages. Nothing since Mokuba’s text last night.

His phone buzzed again as another message was received:

[Text from Roland] No, guess I must have missed it. I’ll be around shorty, there’s something I need to discuss with you in person.

_What?!_ Kaiba hadn’t expected the other to respond like that. Had Mokuba or Kisara said something to Roland and he was coming over to rebuke him? Or was he being paranoid again and there was a genuine matter that needed his attention? Only time would tell as his head hurt too much to bother with sending another response so simply left their conversation at that and cradled his pounding head in the ridiculous hope it would somehow stop the pain. _Ugh,I NEED to take something to cure this!_

Light glistened off the golden scarred figurine once more. Was it possible it was trying to get his attention? _Pfft, don’t be a stupid gullible fool! Of course, it’s not trying to get your attention. What, do you think it’s trying to get you to contact Kisara?!_ He gripped his head tighter and winced as even his internal voice talking loudly caused further discomfort to his throbbing cranium.

Actually,- now that he thought about it,- it might not be such a bad idea to use the dragon as a possible means to get to see Kisara one more time. A simple text enquiry to see if she wanted to take the figurine off his hands would be the perfect excuse to contact her. If she did want it, they could then arrange to meet up somewhere, and he’d have an opportunity to then put things right. Of course, things might not work out like that, and she might not even respond to the text,- heck she wouldn’t even get if she’d already blocked his number,- but he _HAD_ to try. The apparition from yesterday had been wrong, he _STILL_ had a tiny speck of hope left in him.

He picked up his phone, snapped a quick shot of the blue-eyes and sent the photo to Kisara along with an accompanying message:

[Text to Yukisa] I believe this is yours. To reclaim it, meet me at the Moonflower where a handover can take place. Let me know what time would be the most convenient for you and I’ll be there.

After having sent the text, Kaiba set about cleaning himself up in preparation for Roland’s arrival. He didn’t want the other to see him in the state he was; hungover wearing the previous day’s clothes with various splotches down his front. His head throbbed with each movement made yet he pushed himself on and left the confinement of his home office.

Not too far down the hall, he was met with the foul stench of semi-dried vomit where he had thrown-up some hours earlier. He knew he couldn’t leave the mess there like that and groaned inwardly at the chore laying ahead of him. That could wait though, first, he had to take something to help combat the assault happening inside his head.

The bathroom cabinet was his first stop. He popped out a couple of ibuprofen pills from a blister pack and downed them with a glass of water.

Next, he required ample amounts of strong caffeine, so made his way downstairs and into the kitchen. He was in the process of making his coffee when his phone sounded. His eyes widened and heart skipped a beat at the sight of Kisara’s name. _She replied!_

He wasted no time in reading her response.

[Text from Yukisa] No that’s yours to keep, that’s why I gave it to you. But if you really don’t want it I’ll take it.

The slight flare of optimism he’d felt was quick to fade though at seeing she hadn’t answered his query at all and had told him the blue-eyes was his to keep.

Hypocrite; he typed out the annoyed thought before hitting the send button. He then struggled through the jackhammering in his head as he followed it up with a further string of messages:

[TEXT to Yukisa] It’s only fair you take back the things you gave me since you’ve returned or left behind EVERY item I ever gave you.

[TEXT to Yukisa] So do you want it or not?

[TEXT to Yukisa] I can meet up as early as this afternoon.

[TEXT to Yukisa] Just give me a time and date.

As Kaiba sipped at the freshly brewed hot coffee, the pressure inside his head started to subside a little. It was a clear sign the pills taken just a short while earlier were beginning to take effect. With a bit more time he’d be feeling more like his normal ‘clear-headed’ self and could then attempt to right the previous day’s wrongs.

Deep remorse filled him and his gut tensed as though it had been pulled into a tight giant knot. He certainly had A LOT to make up for with the two most important people in his life. Would they ever forgive him for acting like such a callous jerk? He wouldn’t if he were them.

But what if he were to discard his pride entirely? If he grovelled and begged for forgiveness to show just how sorry he truly was? Would he be taken seriously? Or would he just reveal what a pathetic insecure piece of trash he really was?

_Oh, here we go again!_ he rebuked himself and continued to do so despite the mild aching it caused inside his head. _Getting yourself all worked up into a negative frame of mind that’ll spiral out of control and only result in making matters worse! Just TALK to them both for crying out loud! NOBODY is psychic. They DON’T KNOW of all the things that contributed to you being this way. EXPLAIN your actions and reasoning behind what you did and let them be the judge-_

The phone sounded as another wave of texts came through from Kisara.

[Text from Yukisa] I couldn’t exactly pack everything up at once so I will be getting some of what I left behind.

[Text from Yukisa] And I returned them because those _gifts_ were just lies. Part of your cruel twisted game to toy with my emotions.

[Text from Yukisa] But fine I’ll take back, better than seeing all that good money get thrown in the garbage.

[Text from Yukisa] Noon is fine

More guilt bombarded him as he read each one, evident that she believed the lies he’d told her. Lies that he should never have allowed himself to spout. Lies he feared he may have wounded her trust in him completely.

At least she was willing to meet him though. Even if it was only for the figurine at this point, he’d take whatever opening he could get to try and patch things up with her.

[TEXT to Yukisa] Noon it is.

[TEXT to Yukisa] I’ll see you there.

With just over two hours before he was due for their meeting at the Moonflower, Kaiba still had a number of things to do which started with cleaning up the mess he’d made in the hall on his way to his office. He pushed himself up from where he sat at the breakfast bar and went in search of where his maid kept the cleaning products.


	5. Dual Duty

The reason behind Roland’s visit was indeed linked to Mokuba having confided in him about the previous day. Since Kaiba had already expected as such, the confrontation didn’t surprise him in the slightest. Neither did the scolding from the man for having treated both Mokuba and Kisara so appallingly. He deserved to be called out on it.

What Kaiba felt he didn’t deserve though was to be denied the chance to right things with his brother. But as Roland repeatedly refused to release Mokuba’s location in order for him to do so, it wasn’t long before his mind had worked himself up to the point were his fears exploded into rage.

“TELL ME WHERE HE IS!”

“You **NEED** to CALM DOWN-”

“ **TELL ME!!** … _Now!_ … Or consider yourself fired.”

The fact Kaiba had spoken more calmly as he issued the threat told Roland that the other had managed to regain an ounce of composure. Even so, he’d still remain vigilant as he stared down the barrel of the gun pointing at him which had been swiped from the holster he wore beneath his suit jacket. He didn’t believe the teen would actually shot, but at the same time, he didn’t want to take any chances after seeing just how irrational and out of control things had become.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you Seto, but I’m _NOT_ your enemy,” Roland spoke with both hands raised by his sides and palms wide. Slowly he reached for his Kaiba Corp ID and tossed it at the other’s feet.

_He would rather be fired than reunite me with Mokuba?_ Kaiba gave a swift glance down before returning to meet his confused reflection in Roland’s shades.

“My loyalty to you _hasn’t_ swayed, but you need to understand that I hold the _same_ level of loyalty towards your brother too. Right now he _doesn’t_ want you to know of his location. Respect that.”

**BANG!**

Having narrowly missed the left side of Roland’s neck, the bullet came to rest in the entrance hall’s far wall.

_Shit!_ Kaiba’s eyes dilated in horror at his finger having tensed and unintentionally pulled the trigger of the gun. It was nothing short of a wake-up call at just how unstable he was becoming. Purposely pushing people from his life was one thing, but eradicating them from theirs was a step he would never take. _I… I almost killed him!_

“Give, Me, _THE GUN_ , Seto!” Roland demanded upon seeing the shaken looking teen before him. He couldn’t risk letting his friend have hold of such a dangerous weapon any longer.

There was no arguing, only compliance. “Take it and go.”

“I’m not leaving you like this.” the statement was issued as the man reclaimed his firearm. He then removed the magazine and placed them separately back into his holster before moving closer to comfort his friend.

“No, just _GO!_ ” Kaiba protested and stepped back out of reach of the arms trying to embrace him. The sound of snarling dogs began to resurface from the depths of his mind. “Please… b-before I say something that will hurt you deeper than any bullet ever would.”

Roland wasn’t sure what the other could possibly do to inflict such hurt. Perhaps remind him that he was once Gozaburo’s employee? Falsely declare that there had never been any trust between them during the last six years? Harshly criticise him for the times he’d gotten flustered from the pressures placed upon him? Whatever it could be, he’d seen firsthand the emotional mess Mokuba had been reduced to from such blatant lies and had been informed of Kisara’s state too. He honestly didn’t fancy joining their emotional ranks. If he did there’d be no support for his friend. It would be better to let Seto cool down for a few days and then make a second attempt to console him.

“I’ll go.” he finally confirmed after having studied the feint dominance the other was desperately trying to hold. “You have my number if you need me.”

“W-why would I need you? You’re _no longer_ my employee.”

Kaiba watched as Roland left without another word. A part of him wanted to scream that he didn’t mean it and that the man had been more than an employee to him; that he was a true friend, father figure, saviour and the _only_ adult he’d ever fully trusted and respected. He didn’t really want him to leave, he wanted him to stay and help him get through this predicament of his own making. But the memories of the dogs’ snarls, the baby’s cries and the mother’s distraught screams as she helplessly watched her child mauled to death, paralysed him from doing so. Even now, almost five years later, he was wracked with guilt over what had happened to Roland’s son because of him.

The horrific memory was so vivid now that Kaiba collapsed down to his knees and sobbed as he tried to push it back into the depths of his mind where it had resided in secret. Being forced to watch the arranged murder of the child had been a chilling message from Gozaburo, one that still affected his stubborn reluctance to let others close.

But with his adopted father dead and unable to harm him and those closest to him any more, he’d _almost_ overcome the fear of others suffering in retaliation. That was until Kisara’s kidnapping. Then it became clear that there was _always_ going to be somebody out there seeking vengeance against him. Those he cared for were better off severing connections to avoid being seen as easy targets. He was poison and would only ruin and deteriorate their lives if he remained in them. _I’m sorry Yukisa, Mokie, Roland… this is the way it has to be._

He eventually felt stable enough to stand and brushed himself down before checking the time. _Fuck!_ He had less than twenty minutes before he was due to meet up with Kisara and the drive there was going to consume most of that. _I won’t have time to conceal the bruise she gave me now, I’ll just grab the figurine and go_.


	6. The Voice

_Remember, you’re just here to apologise and hand over the figurine, nothing more._ Kaiba told himself as he parked up in the Moonflower’s parking lot. He was running late, even after having driven slightly above the speed limit in his attempt to make it on time. Still, at least he was there and not back home moping in his own sorrow.

The blue-eyes had been wrapped up in the misshapen sweater Kisara had knitted him near the beginning of their relationship; another gift he was handing back that also doubled up to provide protection and ensure no further damage would befall the fragile figurine. He’d placed it, along with his dragon wing pendant and a few sentimental letters/notes/cards from her that he had kept, into a bag which he grabbed as he exited the car.

Paranoia began to take hold as he made his way towards the cafe’s entrance. The people he passed by were whispering. Was it about him? Were they speculating how he’d gotten the bruise on his face? Did they already know how and were commenting further on just what a vile piece of shit he really was? And if they knew, how many others did too? Would they approach and tell him to his face? Did they also know what was in the bag and the meaning those items held?…

The sight of Kisara sipping at her tea as she sat there at the outside table snapped him from his thoughts. “Hey,” he greeted her with a sombre face. “I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. I hope you haven’t been here long… You mind if I sit down?”

Kisara simply shrugged without saying a word and didn’t even bother looking up. She didn’t care if he sat down or not and the fact he was late was the least of her concern.

Kaiba knew he shouldn’t have been surprised to be met with nothing but silence, yet he was. Or maybe it was the fact that apart from her shrug, she hadn’t acknowledged him at all? It was like they were strangers all over again, and fuck did it hurt, though he knew it couldn’t be anywhere near the pain she must have felt from his words the previous day.

Tentatively, he pulled out the chair directly opposite her and slowly sat down. He kept a hold of the bag for now. As long as he had that, she was sure to stay, right?

“I…” he opened his mouth to speak, knowing he had numerous things he wanted to say, but no actual idea of where he was meant to start. A second attempt was soon made, “Yukisa, I’m sorry. Yesterday I,-“

“ _Excuse me?!_ ” She interjected at hearing him so casually address her as if they were still a couple. It disgusted and hurt her all over again. Her fingers curled as her grip tightened on the teacup. “You don’t get to call me that, not after what you did.”

Okay, after yesterday he should have known better than to call Kisara by the loving play on her name that he’d adapted for her, especially after the way she’d reverted back to calling him by his surname, but it was something he instinctively did/had done on a regular basis; another habit he would now have to learn how to break. “Yesterday I screwed up. Big time. I said a lot of things that hurt you and I meant none of them.“

“How can I believe anything you say?” Kisara wasn’t even sure what to believe anymore. Lies, it was all lies, he was lying again he had to be. He was just trying to trick her into coming back so he could use her all over again. Right? Even if she did believe him did he really think that he could apologize and everything would be fine? Whether he meant it or not his words had hurt her deeply, she simply couldn’t and wouldn’t forgive him.

How Kaiba was going to convince her, he didn’t know, he hadn’t planned on any surefire way. Admittedly, it was hard to be truthfully. Even more so with his frame of mind, but he could do this. He had to. “You can believe what I say,- right here and now,- because I came here… on my own accord, t-to… ex-explain my… self…”

His words had gradually stopped and his eyes wandered across the people seated nearby. He could feel them staring, talking, whispering, speculating; just like the others had been. Looking in their direction, laughing, taking pictures. Why couldn’t they all just mind their own goddamn business and stop hindering his attempt to make amends?!

He breathed deep and tried to not let his mind get worked up. “Look, I’m _not_ here to ask you back if that’s what you think this is.” There, he’d said it. He’d played that card straight away so there’d be less chance of him changing his mind the longer he was there. “I hurt you… I regret it… and I will face the c-consequence and reality of losing you because of it…”

His voice began to croak as he spoke and his eyes felt hot. Was this really happening? Was he really going to let his emotions get the better of him and cry in front of her? In public?

No, he couldn’t allow that. Besides, even if he did, she’d probably think he was faking it for dramatical effect. And so would _THEY._ His eyes scanned the onlookers once more, all of them just waiting for him to break so they could capture the moment to upload onto social media.

_’Never mind them, your focus should be on Kisara. FIX this mess that YOU created!’_

Heeding the commanding voice in his head, he pushed back his emotions as far as they would go and looked directly at those eyes that had once adored him. “I may not have been the perfect boyfriend, but until yesterday _not once_ did I _ever_ mistreat or do you wrong… I _genuinely_ cared for you, right from the moment we first met… And I meant _Every, Single, Word,_ that I said when we pieced this back together…”

He placed the bag on the table which she was free to just take and go.

_‘Now tell her, you still love her. Tell her, of your fears that caused you to push her away. Tell her, you want her back.’_

_No. That’s not why I’m here._

_‘TELL HER!!’_

In her mind, Kisara called bullshit that he’d meant every word. If he had, they wouldn’t be here like this right now. He wouldn’t have dumped her in the first place if remembering how he compared the dragon both to her and their relationship; it was only working together that it was fixed.

“You said nothing could break us apart…” She spoke quietly partly thinking out loud.

_Yeah, I said that._ He thought to himself at hearing the light mumble leave Kisara’s lips. Was she just thinking aloud or daring to try to use that,- something he’d naively believed,- against him? The whole point of fixing the figurine together was to get her to open up and let him close again like she once had. For her to confide in him of the atrocities she’d suffered so he could help her overcome them and thus strengthen their relationship even more. But no, she’d barely let him any closer at all and was quite frankly just as guilty of keeping herself closed off from him as she accused him of being.Maybe it was time he called out her blatant hypocrisy instead of biting his tongue all the goddamn time…

_‘I know what you are thinking, and it will only make things worse if you voice such frustration. Now IS NOT the time nor place, so I STRONGLY advise against it… Especially since you may even use that opportunity to say more damning and harmful things.’_

All the eyes his paranoid mind felt watching and judging him, and it was _that one current internal voice_ grating his nerves which caused him the most unease. He wished it would fuck off and leave him the hell alone. But fine, he’d humour it for once and not say a word that might otherwise escalate things.

_‘Wise choice.’_

Kisara honestly didn’t have the mental energy for this. Staring down at her tea, right now the only sure truth was that he’d dumped her. “Tell me why then..wh-why say those mean things?”

More guilt rushed at him as he watched Kisara avoid his gaze as she looked down at her drink. She looked so timid and broken as if all those painstaking months of helping her to regain confidence since the kidnapping had been for nought. He hated what he’d done to her as a result of his own insecurities. She had every right to ask why, and he now felt he owed her the truth more than ever.

“I said those things because…” Kaiba fell silent and fought back the impulse that was telling his body to get up and flee. _I can’t do this!_

_‘Yes, you can. Ignore your urge and continue to talk, it is the only way you will make progress.’_

_Easier said than done._ He clenched a fist on his lap and breathed deep before starting over with his explanation. “I said those things because I’m a bastard who would rather have you hate me than know the actual truth; a truth that hit me like lightning as I waited for you yesterday lunchtime. And that truth is…”

His fist clenched tighter as he struggled to get his words out. Although he held back the full details, he remained honest about how he had felt, eyes tearing up and voice croaking as he spoke, “… I found myself… t-too deep in our relationship…” He sniffed and wiped at a tear sliding down his face. _God, I must look and sound pathetic to her!_

_‘Just keep talking, you will soon have this resolved. After that, you can work on getting things back to the way things were before you made this mess.’_

Back to the way things were? No, that wasn’t what he wanted. Yes, he would have loved to settle down with Kisara for the rest of his life, but he wanted her safe from him and his toxicity even more. If this encounter ended with her under the impression that he’d been scared of commitment as the reason for yesterday’s fallout, then so be it. At least he would have undone the malicious hurt he’d caused her.

With his emotions under control once more, he ended his explanation as he rose to his feet. “You deserve someone else,- someone better,- someone who can give you everything that I can’t-…” 

_‘What are you doing? SIT back down!’_

“I don’t want you returning to the mansion. I’ll have all your possessions placed into storage and will forward you the details regarding when and where to retrieve them, so don’t block my number until then… Goodbye Kisara.”

_‘DO NOT walk away from HER!’_

Kaiba ignored the voice in his head, the aching of his heart, and the murmurs and stares of the people around him as he left the cafe behind. Without looking back, he made it all the way to his car and got in.

For a moment he just sat there in silence, his face twisting in an ugly fashion as he fought a losing battle to keep himself from crying. He hated himself and what he’d done, both yesterday and just now. The only consolation he was taking away from this whole mess was that the people he cared for were now free and better off without him.

His fists hit the steering wheel first, followed by his forehead, and he sobbed hard to the point where he could hardly breathe. Why was he like this? Why wouldn’t he just love and let himself be loved in return without fear for what may or may not come to be?

After a while, the tears stopped. Kaiba wiped his face and then prepared to drive himself home. As he checked the rearview mirror, he saw the person who the recent voice in his head belonged to, sitting right there on his back seat. The man’s face looked much like his own, only older, and he could have easily thought the other to be his birth father _IF_ it hadn’t been for those pharaonic robes.

“Not this shit again!” the CEO grumbled tiredly as he proceeded to reverse the vehicle out of the parking space.

_‘Yes, THIS SHIT again!’_ the pharaoh scoffed back with a face like thunder.

_Ignore him, it’s just your imagination-_

_‘Heh, you wish I was just your imagination. Unfortunately for you, I am a little more REAL than that.’_

_Meaning what exactly?_ Kaiba continued to use his thoughts to speak with his doppelgänger as he entered onto the main road.

_‘Meaning, I have come here on Atem’s behalf. He is extremely concerned about your behaviour and after having failed to talk reason with you during one of your episodical panics yesterday, has asked me to step in. Apparently, he is under the impression that you and I are somewhat alike and thinks I might be able to rectify your self-inflicted mess.’_

There was no response from the CEO as he focused more on the road ahead of him.

_‘Are you really going to leave things like that with Kisara?’_

_The fact I’m heading home not obvious enough for you?_

_‘DO NOT sass me! GO BACK to her THIS INSTANT!’_

Kaiba’s eyes flickered to the pharaoh in his rearview mirror. Despite what the other had said, he knew he wasn’t actually real and therefore had no control over him. He spoke aloud to give his words more power. “No. You can’t make me. Neither can anybody else. This is _MY_ life, and I’m going to _FINALLY_ live it how I damn well fucking please!”

A foot pushed down on the accelerator and the Mercedes sped down the highway at almost twice the recommended speed limit.

It looked to Seto like things were going to be much harder than he or Atem had first assumed.


	7. Desertion

Duelling had always been a way in which Kaiba could escape his troubles head-on and re-evaluated them in a manner he understood much more clearly. Life felt so much easier and relatable when he could ’see’ the strategies for success laid before him rather than having to rely on emotions he couldn’t fully grasp and harness like other people did.

It also helped to have a worthy adversary,- and confidant,- to parry and dispute him along the way. The CEO felt he’d been lacking such a person for some time now. and so found himself make-doing with his own virtual simulation of Atem, something his pharaonic doppelgänger was currently mesmerised by.

_’Considering you have constructed him from your memory, the likeness IS impressive… However, there are SOME imperfections,’_ Seto commented as he studied the holographic face of his cousin standing before him. _‘His eyes are too close together for a start, his shoulders too square, his hair-‘_

“Will you _shut_ the fuck up?!” Kaiba snapped at the annoyance that had been badgering him for the last several days now. Oh, how he wished he could somehow mute the voice that resided in his mind, especially whilst he was busy making adjustments to his deck.

_‘Perhaps, maybe, IF you ask really nicely.’_ Seto smirked before moving away from the hologram waiting to duel, and back towards a rather frustrated,- even more so than usual,- looking Kaiba. _‘From watching those last few duels, I take it you are having issues with your cards, Blue-Eyes White Dragon in particular… Now, WHY do you suppose that is?’_

“ _Don’t_ start with all that Ka bullshit again!”

_‘Heh-heh, deny it all you like, what I speak is nothing but the truth.’_

Kaiba glared at the haughty-looking pharaoh whilst he shuffled his deck. “No, I _refuse_ to believe Kisara’s soul is actually connected to _my_ cards! As for her so-called dragon, okay, I _‘may’_ have seen it but-…”

Silence as the CEO thought back to the moment in the warehouse when the Blue-eyes had appeared and struck down the kidnapper about to kill him as he rescued Kisara. If she had such a power all along, then why hadn’t she used it to save herself? Why wait until he had shown and his life was in danger?…

_‘You can not explain it?’_ The suggestion was spoken earnestly at seeing the sudden disorientation on his descendant’s face. Discovery and acceptance of belief where there once was none seemed to be taking its toll on the young man. Maybe offering a few words of advice instead of jeers would be more beneficial? _’There is nothing shameful with admitting when you are wrong. It is not a weakness but rather a strength that demonstrates your willingness to grow.’_

Not a word was spoken as Kaiba placed his deck down, cut it and then dealt what would have been his starting hand for a duel. One monster card,- Saggi,- three trap cards and a spell card. Not the most thrilling of starting hands but he’d had worse. He placed the five cards down on the table and began to reveal each one of the cards in the remainder of his deck.

After turning over twenty cards,- of the thirty-five that hadn’t made up his starting hand,- and not having revealed a single Blue-eyes amongst them, Kaiba furiously flipped the rest of his deck to see all three dragons within the bottom four cards. _Damn it, not again!_

_’She is defying you and will continue to do so unless you patch things up with Kisara.’_

“Oh yeah? We’ll soon see about that!” Kaiba purposely stacked his deck so that at least one of his signature monsters would be included in his newly drawn starting hand, and slammed the deck into his duel disk. “Let’s duel!”

The simulation of Atem sprang to life.“ Bring it on Kaiba!”

Seto watched as the CEO went first and placed a monster in defence position before ending his turn. It was then the replica of his cousin’s turn to make a move.

“I summon Celtic Guardian to the field and attack your facedown card.”

The elven warrior struck the facedown monster which was then revealed to be Giant Germ. The monster’s low defence meant it was destroyed by the attack and its effect activated to summon two more Giant Germs its place. Upon seeing this, the simulation chose to set a card and ended the turn.

“Well played. It’s your move, my friend.”

Kaiba didn’t even bother to look at the card he’d just drawn since he already knew what move he intended to play. “I tribute both of my Giant Germs in order to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the field.”

As the images of the two germs disappeared, he took the blue-eyes in his hand and placed it onto the field of his duel disk. There were sparks as he held the card in place but eventually the dragon materialised on the field; the first appearance his beloved monster had made all day. _Ha, you were wrong about me not being able to summon her… I mean ‘IT’._

_‘Oh, I would refrain from celebrating just yet,’_ Seto warned as the Blue-eyes flicked and glitched before them. _‘You have yet to attack after all.’_

“Then why don’t I rectify that right now? Blue Eyes, attack the Celtic Guardian!”

There was no response as the dragon remained frozen.

“I said _ATTACK_!”

Ever so slowly, the white dragon moved. However, instead of carrying out the command, it let out a roar and then exploded in a burst of light which forced Kaiba to shield his eyes with his duel disk. 

He lowered his arm once the light had dissipated. All that remained on the field was his rival’s Celtic Guardian and set card. _Blue Eyes destroyed itself. Why?_

_‘I already told you why.’_ Seto sighed tiredly. _‘It is time you end this charade and embrace the truth.’_

With a heavy heart, Kaiba placed his hand on his duel disk to surrender the duel and Atem vanished from sight. Without a rival and his signature monsters no longer at his command, the teen felt he had no reason to remain a duelist. It was time for him to retire from the game.

Permanently.


	8. Saving Face

From the way Kaiba had explained about the charity gala, Seto wasn’t at all surprised by what he saw; a parade of pretentious peacocks flaunting their wealth for the whole world to see. Of course, he was still flummoxed by how such small rectangular devices were capable of alerting other people in multiple nations regarding the night’s event. The modern world held so many mysteries, though with any luck he wouldn’t be here long enough to uncover them all.

His descendant didn’t seem to be immune from this fervid show of vanity either. The CEO had spent the entire evening parading around with some courtesan,- or rather an ‘escort’ as the other had corrected him,- in an attempt to save face and be seen as moving on with life after the break-up with Kisara. And those gullible fools with the rectangular devices seemed to lap-up the farcical act as the ‘couple’ smiled and posed at every opportunity presented to them throughout the evening.

Although the pharaoh could empathise with the other’s need to maintain his image and role in society, he failed to understand the stubborn reluctance to fix things with Kisara. Surely the endeavour to regain their relationship was more desirable than this ornate imitation? Or was he just too concerned with his own hidden agenda to consider the whole mindset of this boy?

Sometime just before midnight, a sea of lights flashed wildly as Kaiba Corp’s young CEO and his ‘mystery woman’ made their exit from the gala. Hand in hand, the couple walked past the crowd of media correspondents in order to reach the limo waiting to whisk them away. As they did so, many of the reporters tried to question Kaiba as they attempted to pry information out of him about his break-up and new girlfriend. None of them succeeded, nor did they even get so much as a ’no comment’ in response.

As the limo pulled away with its passengers seated in the back, Kaiba raised the one-way glass panel to block them from his driver’s view and turned to the woman by his side. “Well done Chizue, your act this evening was _extremely_ convincing.”

_‘Pfft, convincing to everyone except you and I.’_ Seto commented to his descendant as he sat on the seat opposite the couple. He leered at the woman, angry at the thought that _anyone_ would even consider her to be a fitting substitute for Kisara.

“The evening isn’t over yet, Seto-“

“It’s _‘MR Kaiba’_ now,” he was quick to correct her as she leant closer to him. “We’re not in public any more.”

“Of course, please forgive my mistake.” Chizue breathe coquettishly with a hint of a grin as her hand slowly began to run through his hair and her lips pressed against his.

Although Seto saw no visible flinch, he certainly felt the other’s discomfort from the woman’s touch and kiss. _‘Do not do this. It is not what you want.’_

_How dare you presume what I do and do not want!_ Kaiba’s mind growled at the invisible entity watching them. The spite he felt for the other was enough to make him override the urge to recoil from the woman and instead he returned the kiss with a gluttonous one of his own. It had been so long since he’d last felt the warmth of soft lips upon his own, and maybe,- just maybe,- if he imagined _really hard_ , it would be enough to fool himself into thinking she was his ex.

_‘Cease this at once or you will only cause yourself more heartache!’_ Seto warned as the CEO’s hands began to wander. _’No matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise, she is NOT Kisara!’_

The kissing and fumbling continued at a more ravenous pace, but as Chizue’s hands made their way towards Kaiba’s crotch, he felt a sense of revulsion hit him so hard that he pulled away from her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

_‘Liar,’_ Seto scoffed as he watched Kaiba try to remain calm and straighten himself up with as much dignity as possible. He’d caught a flicker of the other’s memory which had warranted the withdrawal; there was no way he was going to venture into that can of worms without a strong invitation. _’Tell her you have had enough and her services are no longer required.’_

There was no response from the CEO as he just sat there in frozen silence. The woman by his side noticed the near-vacant look in his eyes and tentatively placed her hand on his leg. “You seem ’troubled’, Mr Kaiba..?”

“I’m fine.”

_‘Liar.’_

_STOP FUCKING DOING THAT!_

Chizue felt her client’s muscles tense beneath her palm. This wasn’t the first time she’d encountered such behaviour. She’d seen this before in many of the men that had been jilted by their exes and were simply looking for a momentary release from their pain. There was no question that each of the men could have benefited more from seeing a therapist instead of losing themselves with her, but retaining morals wouldn’t fund her chosen lifestyle; she needed their money, something she knew she could double _if_ her services were taken _full_ advantage of. Hesitantly, she spoke, “I’ve got something that could… ‘help’ free you from this state of mind.”

_‘Pfft, I highly doubt such a thing even exists.’_

Irritated, but otherwise ignoring Seto’s retort, Kaiba nodded and then curiously watched as the woman rummaged through her purse. What could she possibly have that would provide him with much-needed freedom from himself?

The answer soon came as Chizue revealed a small plastic bag containing tiny chalky white rocks. She also took out her oversized smartphone and using a credit card, she began to crush the illegal substance into a fine powder. “You ever done lines before?”

“Never,” Kaiba spoke in a tone barely above a whisper as he stared down at the drug being prepared right in front of him. There was _cocaine_ , in _HIS_ limo! If _ANYONE_ were to find out about this, he could kiss his reputation and _everything_ that he’d worked for ‘goodbye’ as such a scandal would ruin him instantly. But seeing as he’d already lost connections with Kisara, Mokuba and Roland, he felt it not such a huge risk after all. With those dearest to him no longer by his side, his life couldn’t possibly get any worse, so why not give it a shot? It could only improve things, right?

_’Your life HAS the opportunity to get better WITHOUT that stuff,’_ Seto stated after having sensed the other’s dubiety. _‘Narcotics are NOT the answer to your problems.’_

Now with two neat white lines running parallel to each other on the phone’s scratch-resistant screen, Chizue searched her purse once more. This time she revealed a pen that she dismantled until left with the empty barrel casing. She then wasted no time in placing one end of the plastic tubing near the closest line of cocaine and snorted it back in one swift motion.

“See? Nothing to it,” she grinned, half pinching and wiping her nose before offering the pen casing to Kaiba. “It takes a few minutes to kick in,- probably less for a first-timer like you,- but once it does, you _won’t_ regret it.”

_‘Stop!’_ Seto warned once more as he watched the CEO take the plastic tube from the woman’s lazy hold. _’It will not fix things-’_

_You mistake me for someone who actually gives a shit!_ Kaiba scoffed at the irritating illusion in his mind before mimicking the action he’d just watched. There was a sharp, brief discomfort as the cocaine hit the back of his nasal cavity, causing him to drop the pen and pinch his nose tightly.

“It’ll get easier the more you do it,” Chizue laughed in response to the comical reaction. She bent down to pick up the plastic tubing and began placing everything back into her purse.

Kaiba felt his nose and the back of his throat gradually turn numb as the rest of the drug slowly seeped into his nasopharynx, leaving a bitter ‘after-taste’ sensation in its wake. His heart started pounding faster in his chest. Was that an effect of the drug he’d just taken, or simply his own adrenaline from having done something he wasn’t supposed to? Either way, it felt good, and for the first time in weeks, _HE_ felt good.

_‘Idiot. It will not last. Soon you will want more, and more, but it will NEVER be enough.’_

“Now then, where were we?” A wicked grin materialised on Kaiba’s face as he turned his attention back to the woman by his side and began kissing her even more voraciously than before as he pulled her close.

_‘Neither will copulating with this… WHORE! For just ONCE in your life, LISTEN to the voice of experience!’_ Seto’s angry spat of words fell on deaf ears. Only this time it wasn’t due to the other’s choice to ignore him, but rather the effects of the cocaine severing the connection between them like a barrier in Kaiba’s mind. Not that it made a difference either way as he was pretty sure he would have been ignored regardless.

Powerless to avert the impetuous act between the couple now undressing each other, the once ‘great pharaoh’ turned his frustration towards the gods,- or rather one god in particular,- as he cursed in his native tongue:

_“DAMN YOU, OSIRIS!! I thought we had a deal? I relinquished EVERYTHING in exchange for Kisara’s release from her stone prison! You failed to deliver your end of the exchange and gave me nothing but false hope disguised as ‘destiny’ in the hands of a stubborn and uncooperative descendant!… Now she nor I will ever find peace; HOW is that fair?”_

He was met with nothing but silence from the god, a sound he’d become used to during the three thousand years spent alone between worlds.


	9. Father's Day

“Happy Fathers Day, Dad,” Mokuba said softly before dropping the white chrysanthemum onto the lake’s surface. He stood there with Yugi by his side and watched as the flower floated away from them to join the rest that had been dropped before it. “Thanks for coming here with me today.”

“You’re welcome,” Yugi replied before giving another moment of silence for the man who he had recently learned had drowned there in a car accident over a decade ago and left two young boys orphaned as a result. “I’m sorry we didn’t encounter your brother like you’d hoped.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure he’s either already been or is waiting until after the time we usually come here in order to avoid seeing me.” Mokuba tried to hide his disappointment and just how much he was missing his brother since their fallout several months ago. Having been there for nearly a half-hour, he turned to leave and attempted to divert the subject. “Do you miss your father? You know, with him being away from home all the time?”

There was a moment of silence as Yugi mulled over his answer with an awkward feeling inside of him. Since the other had shared something personal in regards to his father’s death, he felt it only fair to return the gesture. “People tend to have a _misconception_ about my father. Many believe him to be absent due to work commitments, but the truth is… he was never there to begin with. He walked out on my mom before I was born.”

Mokuba was surprised to hear this, especially after the response he’d gotten from Mama Muto herself after having asked if Yugi’s father would be home with them for the occasion; which he ‘unfortunately’ wouldn’t be. “But your Mom and Grandpa said-“

“It’s all lies. What started out as a story to protect my mother from the social stigma of being a single parent, snowballed into something much bigger as I got older.” Yugi smiled with a hint of sadness to his tone yet even managed to laugh a little as he recalled, “They’d send me fake letters and birthday cards to make him seem believable. I used to _love_ reading all about _‘my father’s’_ travels and got _super_ excited each time one of his letters came in the mail. I never really questioned it all until a few years back when I started to notice the resemblance between his stories and Grandpa’s. I confronted them both and learnt the truth.”

“Wow… that must have been hard on you. Them too I guess.” Mokuba commented after hearing what Yugi had had to say. “Were you mad at them for lying to you?”

“For a little while, but it soon passed,” Yugi nodded as he remembered that betrayed feeling, similar to how a child who had just discovered that Santa Claus wasn’t real felt. “As I’m sure you know, family isn’t about having a mom _and/or_ a dad, nor how many members are a part of it. At times it’s not even about blood relations, but rather the people in your life who _want_ you in theirs. Those who _accept_ you for who you are, who would do _anything_ to see you smile and will _love_ you no matter what.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You think Seto still loves me?” Mokuba asked with teary eyes.

“I _know_ he does.” Yugi wrapped an arm around a now crying Mokuba and pulled him close as they walked back towards the city. “He’s going through a difficult time with his break-up with Kisara. Losing a love like that hurts and you got caught in his emotional firing line. Just give him some space for a while. You and he _will_ be back on speaking terms before you know it.”

Mokuba’s pursed lips wobbled as he nodded in response to the assurance and advice that had been given. He then took out his phone from his pocket and completed his Father’s Day traditions.

* * *

Stood in the kitchen of his mansion, Kaiba gulped back a full glass of water before leaving the glassware beside the sink with the other mountain of dishes that awaited his maid’s attention, which wouldn’t be for another couple of days still. His phone buzzed in his pocket to indicate he’d received a text message. He rather lazily pulled it out, expecting it to be from one of his business associates, but was surprised to see his brother’s name displayed on the screen and smiled a little in disbelief.

[Text from Mokie] Happy Father’s Day!

It had been so long since he’d last heard from Mokuba and the sentiment _almost_ brought tears to his eyes. Even after their fallout, his brother still loved him enough to think of him on such a special day. He replied with an automated, ‘Thanks,’ and thought about finally composing some kind of apology when ‘the irritant’ returned.

_‘What exactly IS Father’s Day?’_ Seto asked as he made a ghostly appearance beside his descendant, the tearful feeling having stirred him from quietly residing inside the other’s mind.

“It’s a celebration honouring fathers and paternal bonds,” Kaiba replied as he abandoned sending his brother a further text and simply pocketed his phone instead.

_‘And your brother views you as such?’_

_What the fuck do you think?_

_‘Okay, no need to get snarky.’_ Seto declared after having sensed the sarcastic and irritated tone used towards him via the other’s thoughts. _‘Out of curiosity, are the dead excluded from such honouring?’_

“Not that I’m aware.” Deciding that he was still thirsty and unable to remember which glass he had just drank from, Kaiba reached for a clean one and poured himself more water from the filter-jug in the refrigerator.

_‘If the dead are not excluded, then why are you not honouring your own father?’_

Was he really going to have this conversation? Kaiba stared at his doppelgänger. “Which father are you referring to? The one who made my life a nightmare because I beat him in a game of chess or the one who tried to murder me and my brother?”

As much as Kaiba regretted the fallout with Mokuba, at least this Father’s Day he was relieved to not be forced to visit the lake where they’d nearly drowned and have to pretend to mourn the piece of shit that had tried to take them with him in the suicide act. Of course, he would never reveal the truth to his brother who had been too young to remember things from that time,- poor kid already suffered enough with sharing his birthday with their mother’s death,- and would see Mokuba remembered one parent fondly… Even if it was a lie.

Seto sensed the other’s bitterness. _‘He was your father who LOVED you, and you have chosen to hate him based on a single mistake during his most desperate time?’_

_Since when did attempting to kill two innocent boys qualify as a mistake?! But if you want to play devil’s advocate, Game on!_ Kaiba calmly placed his glass down on the countertop, proving just how much restraint he had on himself at that moment as the anger currently felt for his birth father would have caused the glass to shatter if slammed like he wanted to. “I could say the very same about _your_ father. Does _he_ not deserve to be honoured on this day?”

_‘How dare you even suggest Aknadin be honoured! What he did was EVIL!’_

As expected, a nerve had been touched. “Abandoning you in order to massacre an entire village aside, did he not mentor, nurture and guide you down the path that led you to become the honourable man you became? Isn’t _THAT_ the true purpose of a father? To _help_ his child _be_ and _attain_ the _best_ in life? You _can’t_ deny he failed you in that respect.”

_‘You seem to be forgetting that he tried to manipulate me into killing the woman I loved before killing her himself!’_ Seto countered back, well aware that the other was trying,- and succeeding,- to infuriate him.

As if riling the other about his father hadn’t been enough, Kaiba’s continuing denial of Kisara’s past life was the icing on the cake. He carried on with his taunt, “As I recall, you ran him straight through afterwards. I would say that evens that score between you both.”

_‘WHY YOU!!!’_ Seto’s fist clenched tightly and he swung at the smug face staring back at him only for his fist to have no effect as it passed right through Kaiba’s head. He growled in frustration, _’I WISH I had a physical form to be able to pummel some sense and compassion into you!’_

“I was thinking the exact same thing so _I_ could strike and rid myself of you.”

_‘You were…? Then how come I failed to hear that thought?’_ Seto’s rhetorical question was asked aloud before he remembered that Kaiba had just taken some ‘medication’ before he’d appeared on the scene and that was the reason why he was now blocked from the other’s mind. _’Oh no, what did you take this time?’_

Kaiba raised his brows high as he shrugged. “The pills weren’t marked. I was just instructed to _not_ take more than one.”

_‘And how many DID you take?’_

“Three.”

_‘Are you trying to kill yourself with all these drugs?!’_

“Live or die, I really don’t care anymore.” Kaiba drawled before raising his glass to his lips and drained the entire thing in several gulps.

_‘What about Mokuba and Kisara? Do you not care about them?’_

The now-empty glass was added beside his first glass amongst the mountain of dishes as Kaiba’s aching and dispirited mind cried; _Of course, I care, that’s WHY I want this feeling to STOP!_


	10. Tough Love

_‘Does it not intrigue you even the slightest bit as to WHY your council suddenly seeks an audience with you?’_ Seto asked curiously from inside Kaiba’s mind as the CEO strut down the corridors of Kaiba Corp towards an ‘urgent’ meeting with the board of directors.

_No._ Kaiba shot back tiredly, still slightly hungover from the night before. He’d really hoped that the other would have taken the hint he wasn’t welcome and go back to wherever it was that he had come from by now. Obviously not. _You’ve been lingering around long enough to know that it’s perfectly normal procedure for me to meet with them._

_’Timely arranged, yes…’_ Seto agreed as his ghostly form slowly materialised beside the CEO. He was very disappointed to see the other still wearing the same dark teal suit and black shirt from the night before. _‘Abruptly like this, no.’_

_Whatever the reason may be, it’s nothing to be concerned about. This is MY company, I call the shots and would be the first to know if something wasn’t right._

_‘Conceited rulers do not last long on their thrones-’_

_Fuck off already! Or do I need to resort to blocking you right here and now?_

_‘You would not dare.’_

_Try me._

Reluctantly, the pharaoh backed down. He’d already witnessed his bullheaded descendant develop the drug addiction to combat his unwanted presence, and had no desire to give him further excuse for such reckless behaviour. _‘Very well. I shall adjourn for now.’_

With that said, Seto vanished and left the other in complete solitude, much to the CEO’s relief.

The door to the boardroom was pushed open and Kaiba entered to the sound of soft murmurs from the rest of the board members. Without saying a word, he headed straight towards his seat at the head of the table and sat down. A quick glance around saw an array of inside directors present for the meeting. Amongst them, he also spotted an unknown face.- a new intern was his presumption,- wearing a light baby blue suit, white shirt and striking red tie. It was a look that greatly contrasted his own.

_Imbecile._ Kaiba scoffed internally at having seen the fresh-faced man dressed in such a bold manner that was way beyond his actual status. Either that or he was fashion-challenged. _Heh, who in their right mind would wear such an audacious looking outfit?…_

“Thank you for gracing us with your presence at such short notice, Kaiba.”

The sound of the male voice greeting him broke Kaiba’s attention from the ‘nobody’ seated across the far side of the table. With the CFO seated to his right now having his full attention, he spoke, “Let’s bypass the formalities and get straight to the point, Tsuda; _What_ is the purpose of this meeting?”

All murmuring around the table stopped and the situation was addressed head-on. “Our shareholders are becoming increasingly concerned with your behaviour as of late.”

“Oh? And just what behaviour would that be?” Kaiba challenged. Calmly he crossed both his arms and legs as he awaited a response from the older man.

“Since your break-up with Miss Amarella, you have been seen by the media, on numerous occasions, with various women… Surely you know what kind of picture that paints?”

“One that suggests I’ve moved on with my life?”

Tsuda laughed nervously. “Not exactly,”

“Then enlighten me.” Irritation was starting to seep into Kaiba’s words. His head throbbed. He wasn’t in the mood for playing games and wished the other would just get straight to the point and accuse him of being a womaniser if that’s what was being insinuated. It wasn’t a term he wanted to be associated with, but if it kept attention on him and away from Kisara,- so that she was free to heal from their break-up without anyone hounding her,- then so be it.

“Well, um…” Tsuda looked towards some of the other board members for help. “It’s understandable that you have… _’needs’_ , but… um…”

“What he’s trying to say, is that you should be more discrete,” Fuguta came to the floundering man’s rescue. Unlike the other, he wasn’t afraid of being so straight forward with his boss. “It’s been brought to the board’s attention that most of the women you’ve been seen with are known, prostitutes. Associating with them will tarnish both yours and Kaiba Corp’s reputations when people find out you’re paying for sex.”

“What proof do you have on these women?” Kaiba challenged the two men and anyone else who dared to meet his eye. “Personal experience? Or just some shareholder’s hearsay?”

Silence.

Whilst he knew perfectly well what ‘services’ the women offered, he was disappointed in his board for believing the word of others without being able to verify it. “ _HOW DARE_ you suggest I would _EVER_ proposition them for sex! They’re ‘escorts’. I hire them to accompany me to and from social events, nothing more.”

He was bending the truth a little, and with good reason as far as he was concerned. The women were used primarily as an easy access route and cover for his newfound addiction. Chizue and the others simply supplied him with drugs and very rarely did sexual intercourse enter into the equation. When it did, it was due to him being too high to give a shit/consent, was meaningless and void of any emotional connection or joy. Always. He fucking well hated it and felt disgusted with himself afterwards.

“I suggest you cease hiring those woman before rumours spread and you become even more of a liability.”

“ _YOU don’t_ get to make suggestions _or_ call me a liability!” Kaiba’s attention and outrage shifted towards the boldly dressed intern who had brazenly spoken. His brows narrowed dangerously. “Need I remind you just _WHO_ you are talking to?”

The other stood his ground, glared back and replied, “Go ahead, but let it be known that I _really_ _DON’T_ care for your womanising ways and conceited attitude!”

It was only now, when their eyes locked on each other, that Kaiba realised his mistake. The fresh-faced man wasn’t an intern at all but was, in fact, his brother. _Mokuba?_ No, that couldn’t be right. The other’s voice was too deep, hair too short, face not as round, and even though they were sitting, his sibling was far taller than he remembered him being. _He hit a growth spurt…and I missed it._

“Your position _DOES NOT_ excuse your behaviour!” Mokuba hadn’t planned on being so aggressive as he spoke, but it seemed to be the only way his stubborn-ass brother would take note. “These rumours could _ruin_ Kaiba Corp, the company you fought and worked _so very hard_ to build. You _NEED_ to stop before they become rampant and destroy what you have left.”

Okay, this wasn’t how Kaiba had envisioned being reunited with his brother. Sure he’d expected some kind of hostility after what he’d done, but not like this and certainly not in front of the whole board of directors. He scoffed at the absurdity of the confrontation. “What do you plan to do besides this reprimand? Remove me from my position?”

“Your choice of words, not mine.”

_Wait, he’s actually serious about this?!_ Kaiba struggled to hide his disbelief at the solemness in both his brother’s face and voice. His eyes then scanned the rest of the board and he let out a hysterical laugh. “Sorry to break the news to you all, but as chairman of the board, _NONE_ of you can do _shit_ without my say-so.”

“I anticipated you’d say that.” Despite already feeling exhausted from the confident demeanour on show, Mokuba remained calm as he reached down for his briefcase and took out the holo-tablet. He tapped and swiped at the screen several times before an array of charts and graphs were projected into the air at the centre of the table, all of them showing Kaiba Corp’s shareholders and their choice of the two brothers whose stance they favoured. “As you can see, I dominate with 54% of the shares backing my side. We both know what that means.”

_I should have never given you 15% using my own assets!_ There were no words that could describe what Kaiba was feeling. His brother had done the unthinkable and betrayed him. In fact, all of his shareholders had. _Except for_ Industrial Illusions. At the back of his mind, he could hear Gozaburo’s amused laughter begin to surface.

Sensing the sudden wave of fear, anger and a strange chortling in his descendant’s mind, Seto’s ghostly form entered the room by his side. _‘What is it, what happened?’_ His presence seemed to be ignored as the other continued to focus solely on his brother.

“ ** _TRAITOR!!_** ” Kaiba roared as he failed to hold his anguish back any longer. He slammed his hands down on the table’s surface,- causing every member of the board to flinch,- and rose up from his seat. “ _HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THIS, AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE EVER DONE FOR YOU!!_ ”

Fuguta readied himself to step in and defend Mokuba from a possible assault. None came though as Kaiba stayed where he stood, clenched his head and battled against the growing laughter inside it.

Seeing the distress that had been caused, Seto retreated to inside his descendant’s mind with aims to banish the source of the laughter. That was, once he could find it in the dark murkiness of the others hippocampus.

“This i-isn’t a takeover, I promise you.” Mokuba’s voice cracked a little. It pained him to see his brother like this, knowing that his actions had just probably triggered memories of their adopted father that were otherwise best forgotten. He cursed himself for not having argued more with Pegasus and Roland about this part of the plan. Unfortunately, though, it had been decided an ‘unavoidable necessity’. “You _NEED_ a break to sort yourself out. You weren’t prepared to do it willingly so it came down to this. But if you go and self-reflect, or get help from a therapist, and work through your problems, Kaiba Corp is all yours again, Seto.”

The frozen terrified face made it hard for Mokuba to determine if his brother was listening or not. With a heavy heart but knowing it was for the best, he continued, “Until then though, as Kaiba Corp’s vice-president, and with the backing of the board, I relieve you of your positions as chairman and CEO.”

Kaiba remained unresponsive as he continued to stare into the space in front of him. So that was it; he’d been overthrown by the _only_ person he’d trusted throughout his whole life… 

Gozaburo’s laughter was now at a deafening level inside his head.

It wasn’t long before the pharaoh found the memory of the evil bastard tormenting his adopted son whose throat he held whilst the boy futilely fought back with trashing arms trying to strike at the grinning face. With fists clenched, Seto raised his arms and flung them in a sweeping motion to dispel the memory as though it was nothing more than mist.

The laughing ceased.

Snapping back into the moment, Kaiba let go of his head and furiously turned on the board members. There was no way his brother would do this to him, _someone else_ had to be behind it all. “ _WHICH_ one of you put him up to this?!“

“None of them put me up to it,” Mokuba stated and almost wished that he hadn’t from the look he’d received. His lip trembled. “I just… couldn’t sit back and watch you flail any longer. You _NEED_ help, Seto!”

_‘He is correct’._ the returning pharaoh sided with the younger brother. _’You have many issues to overcome. If you fail to tackle them, they will continue to eat away at and control you for the rest of your life… I know you do not want that.’_

_I don’t know what I want anymore._ Kaiba absentmindedly confessed before he remembered that the pharaoh could hear all of his thoughts. _Fuck._

_‘I understand you feel hurt by your brother’s actions,- just like both he and Kisara were by yours,-but it takes courage to stand up to those you love, and after the way you have attacked and pushed people aside, it is unsurprising that THIS was the only way he felt you would take notice of him.’_

“Seto?” Mokuba dared to break the silence and trance-like state the other had fallen into. “Please, take this opportunity to seek some help.”

Help? Kaiba didn’t feel he needed help, he just needed to self medicate.

_’No.’_

“Whatever,” he breathed tiredly, almost but not quite in defeat. Stepping away from his seat, he headed towards the door before taking one last moment to glare back over his shoulder towards his brother. “I hope you realise what it is you’ve let yourself in for. You’ll soon find out that my job _isn’t_ as easy as everybody seems to think it is.”

Once Kaiba had left the room, Mokuba turned to Fuguta. “Would you please watch him for the next 48 hours or so? You know, just to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. He should be okay once he’s had a couple of days for things to sink in a little.”

An affirmative nod was given. “Of course, sir.” 

With his brother now under surveillance as Fuguta went about the task asked of him, Mokuba turned to the rest of the board. “Nothing changes in my brother’s absence. You all continue to do your jobs like always and follow whatever plans he had in place, no matter how ridiculous they seem. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” voices answered in unison.

“Good… Well, that’s _all_ I have to say on the matter right now.” Mokuba then looked towards Tsuda and asked, “May I be excused?”

The CFO failed to stop himself from laughing. “You’re the chairman now. You don’t need to seek _anyone’s_ permission.”

“Yeah… that’s gonna take some getting used to,” the teen laughed nervously before he then left the room with a flush of colour to his face.

He wandered down the corridor a little and then made a call on his phone. “Hey, Roland!… Yeah, I’ve just done it… He didn’t take it too well, but it was better than expected… I am, and in all honesty, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. I could really do with some guidance. So do you um, want your old job back?… Cool! I’ll see you in Seto’s- I mean, _‘my’_ office when you get here. _Oh_ , and could you pass the message on to Pegasus to let him know how it went? I really don’t feel like talking to him right now… Thanks.”

The call ended and Mokuba stood in silence with his thoughts as he looked down at his brother exiting the building below. _I’m sorry it came to this Seto, but it’s for your own good. Someday you’ll see that… I hope._


	11. Victims Of Contingency

Upon realising that his presence and persistence only made Kaiba more reluctant, disposition and health worse, Seto yielded and called for a truce. Given the circumstances of what had recently occurred with the younger brother taking control of Kaiba Corp, he chose not to sever their spiritual link completely. His descendant’s irrational and fluctuating mood was far too concerning to leave him entirely to his own devices, but Seto had hopes that a time out from his ’constant nagging’,- as Kaiba had called it,- might help aim in reclaiming some stability that they could then both work from.

The next couple of weeks that followed, nothing was majorly altered. But a small success came when Seto sensed a positive mood change with no trace of substances in use. Was this it? Had his descendant finally heeded some of the advice so many had offered which had been rejected until now? Something had certainly lifted the other’s spirit and he was curious to find out what…

The screeching and screaming sound of what Seto had once been told was ‘music’, filled the cockpit of the dragon jet as his ghostly form materialised in the seat behind the pilot. He peered out at the view beyond the cockpit and groaned as the aircraft looped, causing him to feel queasy. _‘Be thankful I do not possess a physical form’_

“You’re not a fan of flying I see.” Kaiba quipped back in amusement as he turned down the sound of the symphonic metal band he’d been listening to. He kept calm as he refused to let the other’s appearance ruin his last remaining pleasure and the good mood flying in his jet gave him. Besides, he was,- rather surprisingly,- starting to miss human interaction these past few days and secretly welcomed the company.

_‘If man were meant to fly, Ra would have bestowed us all with wings.’_ Seto responded as he timidly glanced down at the earth below them. _‘How can anyone possibly find this enjoyable?’_

“Heh, I thought you’d be used to looking down on the world from the afterlife.”

_‘Sometimes your ignorance is astounding.’_

“Oh, I’m the ignorant one?” Kaiba scoffed. What the hell had he said to offend this time? “That’s rich coming from someone obstinate _gaijin_ who expects his outdated gods, rituals and beliefs to _still_ be relevant thousands of years later, and on a _world-wide_ scale!”

Both exchanged annoyed looks towards each other via a small angled mirror that allowed the pilot to see his passenger behind him.

“I never asked for you to be here, so leave if you so greatly disapprove… But if you choose to remain, _don’t_ preach to me about the past. All that destiny bullshit you’ve been spewing is nothing but just that; bullshit.”

_‘Unfortunately for you, it is all true.’_ Seto kept his cool as he spoke, though he was gravely disappointed with the attitude that had failed to alter at all in his absence. Maybe if he tackled things from a different angle he’d have a better response? _‘Anyway, I am beginning to doubt if you are even the slightest bit deserving of Kisara.’_

“Reverse psychology _isn’t_ going to work on me,” Kaiba smirked as he flew his jet higher. Had the other just tried to play on his ego and expected him to argue his self-worth? Someone really hadn’t been paying attention over these last six months. He wasn’t worthy, not after what he’d done.

Silence filled the cockpit as the current track playing came to an end and neither of them spoke during that void. For a moment, Kaiba considered turning his music off altogether before changing his mind as the next track started. He wasn’t listening to it though as his mind focused elsewhere. “Why me? What is it that makes you so strongly believe _I’m_ ‘destined’ to be with Kisara?”

The pharaoh’s bait had been taken as his descendant now willingly sought information. _‘That would be my doing.’_ Armed with the knowledge that the other had witnessed certain events of ancient Egypt due to the powers of the Millennium Items, Seto’s eyes stared out from the small mirror as he began his explanation. _‘During the days that followed Kisara’s death, I allowed my heart to overrule my head and sought the gods help to free both her Ba and Ka from the stone tablet she had been imprisoned in. It was a decision that divided my council, but as the newly appointed pharaoh, my judgement was final. And so, with Mana’s help, she and I conducted a ritual that made it possible for direct contact with the gods where I attempted to bargain with them many times, each to no avail..’_

As Seto paused for a brief moment, Kaiba’s quick glance at the mirror saw eyes glazed in the memories that were now being recalled. Eyes that were far older,- and presumably wiser?,- than any, he’d ever seen. There was also a sense of sorrow that seemed to run far deeper than that felt for a woman whom the other had barely known.

_‘Lucky for me, my persistence had not gone unnoticed and drew Osiris’ attention. It was him who came to me and made the proposal I would accept.’_

“And what proposal would that be?”

_‘I was told Kisara would one day be reborn many years from then.’_ Seto felt pleased that some kind of progress was being made by the other finally hearing him out. _‘That she and my descendant would meet, perform a ‘union of souls’, and her Ba free to move on into the afterlife once their time together was over.’_

Despite what had been said, Kaiba still remained sceptical. Was he seriously supposed to believe that him wedding Kisara was the solution to everything? “If that’s one part of her soul, then what will happen to the other?”

_‘Her Ka,- the Blue-Eyes White Dragon,- is as immortal as the gods themselves and will remain anchored to the stone tablet. However, she would become free to roam as she pleases. Currently, she is tied to the stone tablet, Kisara and your deck. There was another territory for her too, which I believe you destroyed with your own hands.’_

“I did no such thing!”

Seto remained calm as a defensive flare in the other’s mood was felt. Even so, he ventured, _‘Are you sure?’_

Kaiba felt his breath catch in his throat. Could it be possible that the incident where he had torn the fourth Blue-Eyes White Dragon card is what was being spoken of? Is that what was considered territory for the Ka to roam? No, it couldn’t be. If it was, then that would only add weight to the whole ‘destiny’ bullshit… _This is all just inside my head, NONE of this is real, it never has been! I’m experiencing a mental breakdown-_

_‘This is not a breakdown. You are my descendant and destined to be with Kisara. Her love still burns for you, as yours does for her. Stop hating on yourself and fix things!’_

Eyes narrowed at the face staring back at him in the mirror. “Heh, there’s a contradiction in your words. Either I fix things or leave it to destiny; which is it?”

_‘Destiny made you in my image, bestowed my name on you, and amplified far too many of my negative traits in your personality.’_ Seto could feel the other in the early stages of shutting down and did his best to remain calm as he spoke. _‘Not only that, but destiny entrusted Kisara’s Ba to the pregnant archaeologist who helped uncover the Blue Eyes’ stone tablet. Destiny then brought you both together in a fateful encounter where you unexplainably fell for each other at first sight. The rest-‘_

“Is down to me? _Pfft,_ your prophecy turned out to be a dud. If I were you, I’d ask for a refund.” The jet’s controls made a crunching sound as Kaiba forced the levers and control stick so that the jet performed a twisting u-turn and begin the return journey to the island retreat he owned where he had been staying the last few days to avoid his brother’s constant surveillance.

The jet’s manoeuvre,- something he sensed had been done on purpose just to spite him,- made Seto queasy and prompted an angry burst. _‘I have not spent three thousand years in solitude just to watch you defy destiny!’_

“Three thousand years in solitude? Heh, and people have the nerve to call _me_ antisocial.”

_‘Forfeiting my place in the afterlife was the price I paid to Osiris. I cannot move on from my solitary limbo until Kisara is free.’_

“Then more fool you.”

_‘Grr!’_ Seto grit his teeth in frustration. He couldn’t take this much longer and was losing his patience. _‘If you love her as much as you claim you do, you WOULD NOT want for her to be trapped for all eternity!’_

“ _DO NOT_ blame this on me!” Kaiba was fed up of being accused of predecessor shit he’d had no part of and certainly wasn’t going to foot the blame for something that had happened thousands of years ago. “If you had loved Kisara at all then you wouldn’t have let her die like she did!”

_‘I did not foresee, nor could I have prevented what transpired. But I loved her, as was evident by my actions-‘_

“Mhmm, you loved her _sooo much_ that you went on to copulate with another woman.”

_‘YOU are one to talk!’_ Seto growled furiously as he stared at his descendant’s reflection. _‘As pharaoh, I had an OBLIGATION to marry and father an heir. It was NOT because I felt so very little self-worth within myself!’_

“Oh yeah?” Kaiba contested defensively at having had his destructive behaviour made light of. “Well, I’m sure your _queen_ and _offspring_ were ‘thrilled’ to be nothing more than commodities for you-“

_‘HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT I DO NOT LOVE MY WIFE AND CHILDREN!!’_

A nerve had been touched upon but had not brought the satisfaction Kaiba had previously hoped it would. The choice to use ‘do’ as opposed to ‘did’ told him all he needed to know. Instead of gloating, he found himself concerned for the other now visibly struggling to conceal the grief that thousands of years of being kept apart from those he loved had caused. “This whole thing hasn’t just been about Kisara, has it? You’ve an ulterior motive too.”

The soft rumblings of heavy metal played in the background whilst Seto avoided eye contact in the mirror. There was nothing more he wanted to say. It would only be used against him in highlighting his selfishness for wanting to advance to the afterlife. Silently, he looked out amongst the clouds and saw white fluffy dunes as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t too dissimilar from the midnight sands he’d often stared out across from his bedroom window during times of contemplation. Okay, so maybe this sky view wasn’t as unpleasant as he’d first assumed.

His thoughts drifted into memories thousands of years old. Memories that any living being would have long lost the capability to recollect so vividly, yet he did each and every day: Kisara’s death; Atem’s death; countless arguments with his council regarding plans to revive both his cousin and the girl he’d loved; the unexpected romance that had blossomed with his wife several months into their arranged marriage; the births of all five of their children and the untimely deaths of two of them; his own death on the battlefield as he lay bloodied and cradled in his eldest son’s arms; his family and kingdom mourning his passing with no acknowledgement to his presence from that point on…

Eventually, the pharaoh swallowed his pride and confided in his descendant. _‘A wounded heart struggles to believe that it will ever love again. I bargained with Osiris before realising I would heal in due time. Not only did I fail to heed the warnings from those closest to me, I naively sacrificed everything beyond life in return for Kisara’s eventual release. There is a part of me that still loves her,- no doubt there always will be,- but I went on to find love again. Even though we’re apart, my wife and our children are where my heart truly resides. The separation from them anguishes me greatly.’_

“I’m sorry.” Kaiba’s words were unexpected but nothing short of sincere. He could not even begin to imagine what the other’s pain felt like to be parted from those he loved for thousands of years. “Had I known, I would have thought twice before acting like such a jerk.”

_‘You were acting?’_ Seto mocked. He withdrew his gaze from the clouds and returned it to the mirror where he saw a look of compassion awaiting him. He was amazed that it had been his own unbosoming to have broken through the other’s defences. It was progress for both of them which continued as he gave his own apology. _‘I too am sorry, for the burden that destiny-‘_ he stopped and amended his choice of words, _‘-for the burden that_ ** _I_** _placed upon you.’_

Hearing somebody apologise so earnestly and profoundly to him was a rarity that Kaiba had only ever experienced once,- possibly twice?,- before. Feeling a slight awkwardness descend on him as a result, his eyes wandered to the sky beyond the cockpit. “Personally, I blame the gods. _They’re_ the ones who preyed upon your grief, toyed with you and then failed to deliver what was promised.”

_‘Does your acceptance of the situation mean you will…?-‘_

“No!” Kaiba was quick to interject. “I _will not_ set things right with Kisara… At least, not yet.”

Seto frowned as he felt his descendant’s self-confidence cloud over once more. The absence of the emotional wall between them was a clear indication that some progress was being made, but how long was it going to take before the other rediscovered and found acceptance within himself and realised he was worthy of Kisara’s love? Weeks? Months? A year, five, maybe ten? However long it would be, he wasn’t about to abandon him during the process, though he would let things proceed at their own pace without interference from now on.

“Knowing what you do now, would you have done things differently back then and not made the deal?”

A response was momentarily mulled over before Seto gave his honest reply, _’No. Love is not an emotion that you can just turn on and off whenever you please. At times it may feel like it makes you weak but in actual fact, it fortifies and makes you stronger. I will not deny that it can sometimes seem terrifying too, but once you tame that fear, love becomes nothing short of euphoric. And in my experience, there is no greater feeling known to man than when it is reciprocated.’_

Once knowing that feeling himself, Kaiba silently agreed. Having allowed his fear to get so out of control though, he doubted his actions would ever be redeemable for him to feel it again. Maybe they weren’t? “What if… you’re mistaken and I’m _not_ the one mentioned in the prophecy?”

_’There is no mistake about it,’_ Seto assured in a calm and patient manner. _‘You are the last of my line.’_

“You’re forgetting my brother; he and Kisara get along quite well.”

The pharaoh shook his head. _‘My descendants are by male lineage only.’_

“I assure you, Mokuba is all _biologically_ male.”

_‘That fact is not what I am disputing-… Oh!’_ Seto’s eyes widened with realisation and surprise. _‘You genuinely do not know.’_

“Don’t know what?” Kaiba’s eyes flickered from the view outside the cockpit to the reflection in the small mirror. Why was his ancestor suddenly looking so uneasy? “Wait a minute… are you trying to say that he and I _don’t_ share the same father?”

_‘Yes… I am sorry that you found out this way.’_

_What?!_ Kaiba shook his head as his face twitched. ”No, that’s… that’s _not_ true… Our mother, she… she wouldn’t… _No!_ You’re wrong! _DON’T LIE TO ME!!_ ”

Seto could now sense all of the progress that had been made crumbling fast as the other’s resistance to him began to rapidly reform. _‘Regardless of who his father might be, he is still VERY MUCH your brother. Do not EVER forget that!’_

Hot, confused and angry tears pooled in Kaiba’s now vacant stare. How was he ever meant to look at Mokuba the same from then on? A half-brother that was the end result of infidelity or rape. Overflowing tears symbolised that the remaining happiness of his past had now been well and truly obliterated. He suddenly felt very, very empty…

_’Say something,’_ Seto gently urged as he did his best to try and console his descendant. _’Do not keep it all in. We both know that only leads to extreme heartache.’_

No response.

Aware of not much else besides the fact he was zoning out as he flew, Kaiba attempted to ground himself by focusing on the words of the track softly playing in the background:

**…(Blaming it on life will never make you stronger)**

**BE PREPARED FOR THE CONFRONTATION…**

The operatic and death metal lyrics seemed to resonate with Kaiba, like some sort of great epiphany had just occurred at that very moment.“Let’s play a little game,” he smirked as he pulled at the controls and took the jet even higher into the sky.

_’A game?’_ Whilst it wasn’t an unusual stance for his descendant to take when dealing with his issues, the pharaoh failed to see just how this had any connection to everything else.

“You want me to confront my fears, right? That’s what I’m doing.”

Seto made the mistake of looking down below them. _‘Oh Ra, this is EXTREMELY high up!’_

Although Kaiba knew his jet was one of the most advanced out there, any higher than the 50,000ft he was now at, he’d be in danger of hypoxia; the air was already thin enough as it was. Not that it mattered, since he’d begin to descend soon enough. “I’m putting an end to this destiny bullshit _once_ and for all.”

_‘I do not understand how this-.’_

“It’s quite simple. Will I hit the land/sea _before_ the music track ends, or will I get the opportunity to pull up once the music track _has_ ended? Destiny says I’ll live to fly another day, right?”

_’That is NOT how it works!’_ Seto argued in a panic. Judging from the wild look in the other’s eyes, he had very little chance of getting through to him. _‘What you are attempting to do is nothing but suicide!’_

“Oh, how easily you abandoned your faith!” Kaiba laughed. “Where’s your gods now, huh?” He cranked up the volume of the stereo just as the instrumental break led into more lyrics:

**If you blame all your failures on someone else**

**You avoid every chance**

**(You’ve lost your last chance)**

**_(To learn from yourself)_ **

_‘Do not do this, Seto.’_

_Too late…_ The jet’s controls were thrust forward and it entered into a sharp nose-diving descent.

**If you blame all your failures on someone else**

**Without any remorse**

**(Without your remorse)**

_’STOP THIS! YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!’_

No response.

**If you don’t face the weakness of your own self**

**You will take the same course**

**(You’ll take the same course)**

Seto retreated into his descendant’s mind in the hope he’d be able to avert the situation from there. No such luck though as he found his route blocked by a fully erect wall and a sinister-looking doppelgänger.

_’ThIs OnE iS mY DiScIpLe NoW.’_

**We can’t blame all our failures on someone else**

**FOR OUR OWN PROTECTION**

**(So much to protect)**

_’Who are you?’_ Seto asked. He wasn’t the slightest bit fazed by the other’s appearance, the voice, on the other hand, gave him cause for concern.

_’SoMeOnE yOu HaVe ChOsEn To ReNoUnCe.’_ The doppelgänger’s face momentarily morphed into that of an animal which had been extinct for close to two millennia.

**We can’t learn from decisions in our own lives**

**WITHOUT SELF-REFLECTION**

**(We will never flee from contingency)**

_’NoW tAkE lEaVe, DeSeRtEr, AnD pRaY tHaT mY bRoThEr WiLl StIlL hOlD tRuE tO hIs WoRd.’_ The god of chaos dematerialised through an otherwise impenetrable wall, and the pharaoh found himself banished to the realm between worlds once more.

**WE WILL NEVER FLEE FROM CONTINGENCY**

The track ended and the tail of the dragon jet skimmed the water’s surface as a sharp ascent was executed.

“Huh…? I guess there’s actual truth to this destiny bullshit after all,” Kaiba mused aloud whilst experiencing the greatest adrenaline rush he’d ever known. He felt invincible,- No, he _was_ invincible. Fuck everybody else, _no-one_ was going to stop him from living life as he saw fit. _TiMe FoR a PaRtY tO cElEbRaTe._


	12. A Cry For Help

Despite the fact that Seto now found himself blocked from his descendant’s mind, he still continued to linger close by Kaiba, just on the off-chance that the barrier between them might weaken and crumble. So far though, it was seeming to be permanent. But things weren’t at a complete loss and waste of his time. Now that the blue-eyes white dragon was aware of his existence, she visited him from time to time and eased his loneliness. 

_‘I do not like him,’_ Seto stated bluntly to Blue as he sat nestled against her with his eyes firmly fixated on the one-eyed man conversing with his descendant as they were seated out in the open air beside the grand chateau. _‘He reminds me of Aknadin and should not be trusted.’_

Blue raised her head from where she lay and craned her neck to stare at the pharaoh snuggled right beside her wing. She purred softly as she spoke to him in her dragon tongue.

_‘Yes, I am perfectly aware of who he is. It does not alter my opinion of him, especially since I am also aware of the things he has done.’_

Annoyed by Seto’s response, Blue’s purr morphed into a growl as she scold him for his bias and used the tip of her tail to knock the Khepresh from his head.

_‘You are more understanding and forgiving than I…’_ Seto commented as he leant over to retrieve his headpiece. He then looked at the blue-eyes and gave a sly smirk, _’… yet you refuse to extend that forgiveness towards my descendant. That makes YOU biased too.’_

Sparks crackled at the back of dragon’s throat as she warbled in protest before turning away and slumping her head back down on to the ground where it had been just moments before. It wasn’t that she refused to forgive her duelist for having hurt her human, but the fact that he had so much to atone for and had done virtually nothing since the brief cafe encounter to even suggest he had intentions of doing such. Only when he’d start to show progress would she reevaluate her stance on him and his worthiness to be granted forgiveness.

Blue heaved a sigh as she watched the wine drain from Kaiba’s glass as he listened to Pegasus talk. She tried to stay optimistic for the three human souls and her own that were tangled in destiny’s thread, but even she was dubious about what the final outcome would be. Her duelist had strayed so far from the light and into a darkness that she herself was having trouble keeping him in her sight. Would he ever return? She hoped so; her human longed for him… and so did she.

“… as you can see, Kaiba Corporation is in perfectly capable hands-“

“My company shouldn’t be in _HIS_ hands, it should be in _MINE!_ ” Kaiba growled angrily as the other finished informing him of his company’s current performance under his brother’s control. He slammed the empty wine glass down on the table beside them and immediately began to pour more of the deep red liquid into it.

Pegasus’ eye wandered over the gaunt,- almost skeletal,- frame of the young man seated before him. He felt a sense of guilt for having stood by and allowed the deterioration to occur when he could have perhaps stepped in sooner and prevented it. Had he done so though, he knew there would have been no trust left between them that had finally seen the other approach him on his own accord. “Your brother did what he did because he’s concerned about you, as are a lot of people, myself included.”

“ _Pfft_ , the board’s only concern is how my ‘image’ reflects on the company.”

“You can hardly blame them. Some of the parasites you choose to mingle with these days don’t exactly have glowing reputations themselves.”

“Interesting choice of word you used to describe my ‘friends’,” The snide remark was made as Kaiba raised the wine to his lips once more.

“Those people _aren’t_ your friends. They’re socialites, sycophants and call girls; not a single one of them cares about your wellbeing.” Pegasus failed to hold back the scornful remark. He knew it could have potentially put an end to the conversation,- and quite possibly their friendship if the other was in a defensive mood,- but he felt it needed to be said.

“ _Meh,_ the feeling’s mutual,” Kaiba lazily shrugged and continued drinking. He’d lost count of just how many glasses of wine he’d had, but knew for a fact he was nearing the end of a third bottle between them, of which he’d easily drank two on his own. Maybe that was why he currently felt so loose and relaxed as he admitted, “I don’t ‘love’ or ‘care’ for anyone these days… not even myself…”

Without saying a word, Pegasus reached for his own wine glass and sipped as he patiently waited to see if the other would continue to talk without prompt. Surprisingly, he did.

“I’ve developed an unhealthy lifestyle of parties and debauchery that gets worse each day…” Kaiba stared down into his drink as he spoke. Why? Why was he so suddenly okay with disclosing this? Was it the wine? Had he finally reached the point where he was past caring? Or was confiding with Pegasus,- a man who had seen him at both his best and worse,- actually something that he was willing to do?

“My self-respect is shot… With no regard for my life, I will fly and drive recklessly, sometimes even under the influence… Drinking myself unconscious has become a regular occurrence… I engage in hollow sex with women whose names and faces I don’t even remember… I’ve experimented with a range of drugs and have OD’d more than once…”

Regret was detectable in Kaiba’s voice as he spoke, and Pegasus fought hard to keep a frown from his face as he listened. _I should have acted sooner instead of waiting for you to come to me._

There was a brief pause, and Kaiba struggled to keep his mouth neutral as it repeatedly twitched into a frown as he spoke, “Last week, I… I felt so desolate, I… I played Russian Roulette, in the hope I’d… end it all.” With his darkest confession voiced, he then downplayed it as he continued with a psychopathic look in his eye. “But lo and behold, I’m _still_ here. I’m _invincible_. A walking _god_ amongst men. I can do _whatever_ the fuck I want _without_ fear of consequences…-“

_’I told you; that is NOT how destiny works!’_ Seto yelled, only to startle Blue whose wings fidgeted and sent his Khepresh tumbling to the ground for a second time.

“Mhmm, and what if death lay just around the corner for you? Then what?” Pegasus asked. He’d been given an unnerving peek at the other’s current state of mind which was proving to be more unstable than he and Mokuba had first suspected.

_Then I’d welcome it with open arms._ Kaiba’s thought was dark, honest, and something he dare not say aloud. He looked Pegasus straight in the eye, “I’m not afraid of dying if that’s what you’re asking.”

Pegasus calmly set his glass down and breathed in as he placed interlocked hands on the top knee of his crossed legs. He was about to address the elephant in the room that had caused such desolation and did so in a calm casual manner. “The thought of living without Kisara still terrifies you, doesn’t it?”

“No.” Kaiba’s response was curt and his expression close to outrage.

“I’ve _been_ where you are. I _know_ the pain of losing someone you love beyond all things imaginable. That girl has left a void in your heart that you feel will never heal-“

“Shut up! You know NOTHING!”

Despite the hostility being shown, Pegasus remained calm. “I lost the woman I love too. I know _exactly_ -“

“ **NO, YOU DON’T!!** ” Kaiba screamed. His eyes were wild and face creased with distress. “You lost Cecelia because she **_died_**. You **_didn’t_** chase her away because you were _too_ ** _fucking_** _proud_ to tell her how you felt!”

“And how do you feel?” Pegasus felt his heart break from seeing his friend so anguished. There was some consolation though; he hadn’t been pushed away like others who had tried to help before him.

“I didn’t tell her, so what makes you think I’d tell you?”

Okay, maybe he’d spoken too soon. The other’s defences were clearly raising again. Pegasus knew he had to tread carefully from now on. “You don’t have to go through this alone, Seto. You’re in a dark place right now, one you may feel is impossible to escape. Well, I assure you, it’s not. Let me help you, or at least _stop_ this destructive behaviour of yours. You fill your life with people, substances, and rituals that aren’t good for you. If you’re not careful, your brother is going to be burying you way before your time is due-“

“I told you, I’m _NOT_ afraid of dying!” Kaiba stated as he rose to his feet from where he sat.

Pegasus copied his actions. “What about leaving Mokuba alone? Are you afraid of that?”

“He’s proven himself capable of managing Kaiba Corp, I’m sure he can deal with my death _if_ it were to happen, which it _won’t_. I’m not going to purposely end my life. But I’m not going to stop living it how I choose either… Just _back off_.”

There was a long moment of silence as the two men stared each other down. Both Seto and Blue watched with bated breath.

“Very well… “ Pegasus conceded and calmly sat back down. “Shall I have Croquet bring you another bottle?”

“No. I’m done here,” Kaiba stated before turning to head towards his jet and leave. Only a couple of steps were taken before he froze, looked back over his shoulder and calmly spoke, “Continue to watch over Mokuba for me. He needs guidance that I’m not capable of providing.”

“You sell yourself short, my boy.” A sad smile accompanied Pegasus’ words. He remained where he sat and made no effort to intervene as Kaiba then continued on his way.

_‘Is that it?’_ Seto was disappointed with the outcome. He got up from Blue’s side, and whilst she ran towards his descendant, he approached the one-eyed man. _‘Go after him!’_

Pegasus fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair. He wanted nothing more than to prevent the other from leaving but knew that his hands were tied. At least he was safe in the knowledge that the younger man’s ability to fly wouldn’t be hindered by the vast amount of wine consumed, which had in fact been non-alcoholic. He reached for his own drink once more.

_‘If you value the friendship you supposedly share, you would stop him from leaving!’_ Seto continued to scold even though he was aware that he could not be seen or heard. _‘He is your associate; your partner; your ally; your brother in arms! For the love of Ra, HELP HIM!!’_

**_Smash!_ **

Pegasus and Seto both stared and blinked at the wine glass that had shattered on the ground. “Clumsy me,” the former tittered whilst the latter couldn’t help but wonder if his outburst had startled the one-eyed man into losing grip on the drink.

“I’ll get that, Mr Pegasus, sir.”

“It’s fine Croquet, I’ll see to it,” he waved his hand at the loyal servant hurrying towards him, before reaching down to pick up the main body of the fallen glassware. “Fetch me a mop… and my phone; I left it on charge.”

“Yes, sir.”

Blue let loose a roar as Seto watched Pegasus fish out the remaining shards from the dark red puddle. The aircraft was readying to take-off, which meant they both had to leave too.

_‘If,- by some miracle,- you can hear me, please save my descendant from himself… I saddled him with far too much.’_ the pharaoh spoke remorsefully before disappearing to rejoin the white dragon.

The sound of the jet’s engines rumbled in the distance. Pegasus raised his head and looked towards the sound’s source to see not one, but two Blue Eyes take to the sky. He watched them climb higher amongst the clouds and vowed: _You have my word that I will do my damnedest to save that boy._

“Your phone, Mr Pegasus, sir.”

“Thank you, Croquet.” Pegasus took the handset offered to him and allowed the other to take over with the wine clean-up. No time was wasted as he swiped through his contacts and made a call to Mokuba.

_“Hey, Pegasus! Did Seto keep his word and visit you like he said he was gonna?”_

“He did. In fact, he’s just left.“

_“How is he?”_

“Infuriatingly stubborn like always.” Pegasus simpered at hearing the optimism in the young teen’s voice. The bond may have frayed between the two brothers, but this one’s hope was keeping it from breaking completely. He just prayed it would hold out for a while longer. His lips relaxed and his tone turned sombre, “My dear Mokuba, there is something we need to discuss. However, I have a feeling you are _not_ going to like what I have to say…”


	13. We Did All That We Could

“Time travel… save Kisara… prevent this bullshit… ” Kaiba mumbled repeatedly as he made his way down from his bedroom and to the basement laboratory. The sudden epiphany had struck him at the most inconvenient of times, but once his mind had focused on the idea, it was all he could think about. “Time travel… save Kisara… prevent this bullshit…”

Once in the laboratory, he headed straight towards the computer with its multiple monitor screens and readied the graphics tablet. First, he had to design the time machine. Should he opt for a stationary pod or some kind of vehicle? The latter would be more practical in helping to generate the energy and velocity needed to break through the space-time continuum, but would he be able to construct a runway big enough to achieve that? It was quite possible he might need a whole continent worth of unobstructed straight open-space to gather such quantity required, so what about travelling vertically instead?No, he’d then have gravity to contend with. Unless he could somehow utilise the natural force to his advantage…

The pen suddenly sped across the tablet as Kaiba sketched his idea for a towering elevator shaft all the way into space. He then began to mumble incoherently whilst jotting down an array of formulas alongside it. “Trajectory… maximise momentum… pierce spacetime… dilation… goal.” A manic grin formed on his face as he began working on more detailed calculations that would enable him to put his theory into practice.

_’Not what I would have advised…’_ Seto commented as he stood with folded arms whilst watching his descendant work. _‘…but at least he is taking this seriously now.’_

_‘Seriously?’_ Atem scoffed and eyed his cousin sceptically as he stood beside him. _‘He’s high, wearing nothing more than a shirt and underpants, and devising a plan that will most likely end in disaster for himself and/or others if it is ever implemented!’_

_’So you do not think he will succeed?’_

_’That’s not what I said.’_ A frustrated glare was given before elaboration was made. _’If Kaiba were to dedicate all his time to this and doesn’t inadvertently kill himself in the process, there’s every chance he WILL succeed with such a ludicrous idea. My concern is, just WHEN does he plan to save Kisara? If he intends to prevent her kidnapping, then all is well; the fractures won’t form in their relationship and they’d remain together. But, if on the other hand he still feels himself unworthy of her, then he could quite possibly take things to the extreme and prevent her untimely death back in our time.’_

_‘And that would be disastrous, because…?’_

_‘Because history from then on would change! Don’t you see, Seto? If Kisara never sacrificed herself, you would go on to wed her instead of your actual wife. Therefore your children would not be born, and their children, and so forth. Your reign as pharaoh would also differ; that is if you even rule at all since there’s also the possibility you might have died without Kisara’s intervention.‘_

_‘Yet the world would know no different,’_ A tired drawl interjected. _’If my death occurred back then, at least Kisara’s soul would remain free… Alterations are not always a bad thing.’_

_‘You’re prepared to erase the last 3000 years, just like that, and justify it in the name of love?!’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘Humph!’_

_‘Do not scorn me for something you have NOT experienced!’_ Seto snapped at the judgmental gaze that remained unfazed by his outburst. _‘I am perfectly aware that my decision is selfish. But if it were you in my shoes to make the choice between reliving a mortal life or stuck in eternal solitude, I dare say you too would make the same decision.’_

Eternal solitude. Those two words caused Atem to take a moment to see things from the other’s perspective. Both of them had spent 3000 years, their souls trapped, isolated, and barred from the afterlife. Whilst his own denial was now over, his cousin’s was still ongoing. Not only that but whereas he had been peacefully oblivious to the passing of time with no memories to recall, Seto had retained all of his. As if residing in limbo wasn’t bad enough, what torture must it have been to spend such a long period of time alone and haunted by the past with no end in sight? _No wonder he’s so reluctant to return to such a place of despair._

_‘I understand you’ve lost faith in the gods, feel as though they have forsaken you, and are desperately clinging to any scrap of hope you can find to ensure the prophecy is fulfilled and therefore able to move on to the afterlife,’_ Atem spoke calmly to the man by his side. _‘But you are only torturing yourself more by watching Kaiba’s every move.’_

_‘I would rather be here by his side than all by myself with my thoughts.’_ Seto replied whilst watching his descendant fill the computer screen with more equations and diagrams.

_‘You won’t be all by yourself. The gods gave me free rein between worlds. I’ll stay with you until this whole thing finally resolves, no matter how long it may take.’_

Curiously tilting his head to the side as he turned to face the other, Seto asked, _’Despite your own imprisonment inside the puzzle, you would choose to give up your freedom and instead reside in a barren void just to keep me company?’_

_‘Of course,’_ Atem smiled up at the perplexed gaze. _‘It’s the least I could do as my show of thanks for the things you did to ensure I too could proceed to the afterlife.’_

_‘And yet you waste that very opportunity.’_ A sigh was given and eyes diverted back to his descendant now calculating centrifugal forces. _‘I appreciate what you are trying to do, Atem, but if he does not fulfil the prophecy, you could end up trapped with me for the rest of eternity.’_

_’That’s a risk I’m willing to take.’_

The two pharaohs looked at each other and Seto simpered a little. _‘I have a feeling that you will not take no for an answer; you are just as stubborn as him.’_

_‘Oh please, NOBODY is as stubborn as Kaiba…’_ Atem smirked before extending his hand for the other to take. _‘… except maybe you.’_

Ignoring the jest, Seto asked, _’You would really trust our fate in his hands?’_

_’Not would... I_ **_do_ ** _.’_

Seto may have lost his faith in the gods, but his faith in Atem remained firm. If the other believed so strongly in his descendant then he would too. Another simper as the offered hand was taken ahold of and together the two of them slowly de-materialised out of the underground laboratory.


	14. Endgame

Mokuba sat in the back of the surveillance van that was parked just beyond the boundaries of the Kaiba mansion. Pegasus sat to his left whilst Yugi sat to his right, all three faces illuminated by the huge monitor screen before them as it broadcast live footage from the body-mounted cameras Roland and his teams were wearing.

“Are you _sure_ you want to go through with this?” Yugi asked the younger male. He knew that what had been decided must have been an extremely difficult decision to make and was there to provide support for his friend during the raid.

With a heavy heart and a close-to-vacant expression, Mokuba gave a slow nod. His brother had had plenty of opportunities to deal with everything that had kicked off more than eight months ago now, yet had only continued to get worse. “I never wanted for it to come to this, and wish there was some other way, but there isn’t…”

Seeing the boy in such a solemn state, Pegasus came to his aid with an explanation for Yugi’s benefit. “Kaiba-boy’s refusal to seek help for himself means that it’s now up to _us_ to make sure he gets it.”

“Does it have to be right _here_ , right _now_ , like _this_?-”

“Yes!” Mokuba cut across his friend’s words. He didn’t want this to be harder than it was going to be. “My brother needs help. I’m willing to do _whatever_ it takes.”

“Of course,” Yugi calmly responded to the extremely curt interjection, “What I mean is, he’s _not_ going to take being institutionalised lightly. Maybe a quieter occasion would be less stressful for everyone involved?”

“Ideally yes, but Kaiba-boy’s behaviour has become so reckless as of late, that to wait any longer _could_ be fatal…”

Mokuba momentarily zoned out from the debate going on either side of him. His brother’s death from self-destruction was not something he was just going to sit by and let happen. They’d been through so much with his brother having made many difficult choices for them since they’d been orphaned. It was time to repay the favour.

“… If Kaiba grows to hate him because of this, I _will not_ forgive you Pegasus!”

“ ** _STOP,_** _JUST STOP!”_ the teen roared in frustration and soon found himself under the gaze of three shocked and startled eyes. “Yugi, I understand your concern as my friend, but ** _I_** made this choice, _no-one_ has coerced me into it. And Pegasus, _do not_ speak for me on my behalf, ** _I_** have my own voice, and will divulge what and when **_I_** feel is appropriate. I’m not a little kid anymore! Will you both stop treating me like one!”

Silence filled the surveillance van and was only broken by a crackling sound as Roland’s microphone was switched on. “All the teams are in place and ready to proceed on your order.”

“Thank you, Roland.” Mokuba’s heart was now thumping the most forcefully he had ever felt. _This is it. I’m doing this for your own good, Seto._ Eyes clamped onto the camera feed belonging to his head honcho and he gave the command. “Move out.”

The six teams,- each consisting of three trained security personnel,- began to storm their way into the Kaiba mansion. Earlier drone surveillance had made them aware of a rather sizeable function currently underway, so whilst the two lead teams’ aim was locating the ex-CEO, the rest would secure the premises and deal with the guests.

“Look at the state of the place,” Pegasus commented as the body-cams streamed footage of trashed halls and rooms within the mansion. What had once been proud and immaculate living spaces were now almost unrecognisable with broken and strewn furnishings as far as the eye could see. “Someone call Marie Kondo, quick!”

“She’s an organiser, not a house cleaner.” Yugi pointed out the flaw in the other’s joke.

_Speaking of a house cleaner, what happened to Jun?_ Mokuba wondered. Had his brother fired their maid or had she quit on her own accord? He knew there was no way she would have allowed such a state of disrepair if she had still been around.

As the teams ventured further into the mansion, they began to encounter intoxicated guests wandering around or passed out in the halls. A couple was even so heavily engrossed with making out that they failed to notice the raid happening at all.

“Fuguta, have your team check the office,” Roland instructed before taking his own team towards the hall where the bedrooms were located. “Notify me at once if you find Mr Kaiba.”

“Will do.”

The two lead teams headed towards their destinations with weapons drawn in case of any hostility they may be faced with once there.

“They’ve got guns?!” Yugi was horrified at having caught a glimpse of the firearms in the streamed footage.

“Those are tasers,” Mokuba assured. “Like you said earlier, Seto _isn’t_ going to take lightly to being institutionalised. It’s only fair they’re able to defend themselves from whatever assault he might throw their way.”

Roland’s team soon reached the closed door of the bedroom belonging to their ex-boss. Taking the lead, Roland signalled for his two teammates to remain quiet whilst they listened for any signs of someone within the room. Confirmation came in the form of multiple voices moaning and groaning.

After the count of three, the door was opened and all three tasers held at arm's length pointing directly towards the mass of naked bodies interlocked in a heap on the caesar-sized four-poster bed.

“Oh my!” Pegasus was quick to lean to his right and placed a hand over Mokuba’s eyes.

The teen let out an exasperated sigh. “I hang around with Yugi and Joey, so it’s not like I _haven’t_ seen stuff like this before.”

A lone and furious brown eye swiftly found a new target. “You and your friends allow him to watch porn?!”

“What? _NO!_ Of course, we don’t! Well, that is to say, I don’t ‘allow’ Mokuba to ‘do’ anything,-“ Yugi could feel the perspiration forming on his brow as he talked. “- he’s his own person. If he chooses to view such material,-”

“He’s fifteen!”

“Fourteen.” Mokuba corrected as he casually pulled Pegasus’ hand from his face and returned to his observation of the raids.

“Many boys his age are curious about sex; there’s no shame in that.” Yugi stood his ground. Is this what it felt like to be a parental elder sibling and criticised for every choice made regarding the younger sibling? Suddenly he didn’t envy Kaiba and Joey quite so much.

“He should _not_ be viewing such inappropriate material!“

“What Mokuba has seen is tame compared to what’s out there!” Yugi refused to be intimidated by the suggestion that he’d somehow failed the younger male; his peer; his friend. His tone became confrontational and snide as he continued, “Unless you’d rather I ‘allow him’ to discover the extreme stuff on his own?-”

“ _Shh,_ quiet down you two! I can’t hear what’s being said on the stream.”

Pegasus relented upon seeing the protectiveness he had stirred. “Touché, Yugi-boy,” he sighed. “Times have changed, and the internet advanced so rapidly since I was his age… He’s lucky to have someone like you watching over him in place of his brother.”

Mokuba turned up the volume so he could hear more clearly what was going on inside the mansion.

“Mr Kaiba’s not in there,” one of Roland’s teammates declared as he emerged from the bedroom’s en-suite bathroom.

Roland lowered his taser, turned to pick up the luxurious blue robe from a nearby chair and tossed it towards a woman whose effort to hide her nudity with tiny hands had made him pity her. His view fixed onto the group of four,- three women and a man,- on the bed. “I’ll ask you all one more time, _WHERE_ is Seto Kaiba?”

“Don’t know, _don’t_ care,” the man scoffed as he continued to grope at the woman he’d been penetrating just moments before. She moaned loudly from his touch before hungrily seeking out his lips with her own.

“He was here…” the third women answered as she leant back on her elbows and parted her legs wide. “…but as you can see, he came and went.”

As the inebriated group burst into cackles of laughter, an infuriated Roland instructed his team; “Have them all dress and take them down to the duel hall!”

“Yes, sir.”

Leaving the room at a fast pace, Roland activated his com-link to Fuguta. “Any sign of Mr Kaiba?”

“None.”

“Did you check the panic room?”

“Empty.”

“Dammit!” Roland growled through clenched teeth as he continued down the hall. He’d been so sure they’d find their target in one of the two most obvious rooms he could be in. “Okay, well, just sweep the mansion until we find him. He’s here someplace.”

“Roger.”

The com-link closed and Roland held his taser ready once more as he was about to open another door. To his surprise, it was locked. He re-activated the com-link, this time to his boss. “Mokuba, your bedroom door appears to be locked. I have a feeling your brother may be in there. Permission to break the door down?”

“Permission granted.” Mokuba cooly responded despite being slightly confused. His bedroom had no lock, so why wasn’t the door opening? _Has Seto barricaded himself in there?_

Taking a step back, Roland raised his foot and gave several forceful kicks to the locked door before it crashed open. He proceeded inside.

“Roland stop!” Mokuba instructed at what he saw from the man’s body-cam upon entering.

Roland complied without question.

“Do a 360, turn around, let me see the whole room.”

Again he complied. “Is there a reason why you have me spinning like a top?”

“Seto’s not in there.” Mokuba verbalised his thoughts. His eyes were wide with awe at seeing his room untouched since the day he’d moved out. “He put a lock on the door to keep people out and stop them from trashing it like the rest of the mansion. He’s preserving my room; my space; my memory,-“

“That’s all very well, but it doesn’t help with the situation of where he is now.” Roland stated.

Pegasus sensed the other’s growing irritation and took it upon himself to press for clues that might help. “You know your brother best, Moku-boy. Do you have any ideas where he might be found?”

“Well, if Seto _is_ hiding then he would have used the panic room. But since we already know it’s empty… he could be just about anywhere. I _know_ that’s not what you wanted to hear.“

“Does he have a favourite room, one where he might go to relax?”

“If Seto knew how to relax, he wouldn’t be in this mess.” Mokuba shot back at Pegasus before taking a moment to ponder over what had been asked. “Maybe the garden, in the observatory?…Nah… Perhaps the games room, or music room, or,- Wait, I _DO_ know! The basement! Either in his lab or the garage.”

“You have an underground garage?” Yugi asked in a slightly awestruck manner.

“Uhh, yeah. Where else is Seto supposed to keep his car collection?”

“I’m heading down to the basement right now.” Roland declared after having heard everything via his com-link. He was already speedily leaving his teenage boss’ bedroom and made a beeline for the elevator at the end of the hall.

“Oh, Roland, just a word of warning; if you’re going down there, we _may_ lose contact.” Mokuba was quick to inform. “There’s been instances in the past when I haven’t been able to get through to Seto’s phone when he’s down there.”

“It’ll be a minor inconvenience if it the communications do drop out, but the camera will keep recording so you’ll be able to witness everything that takes place,” Roland assured as he entered the elevator and it began to make its descent. “This will be over soon, Mokuba. I’m sorry it’s taking so long...”

“Don’t apologise. _I’m_ the one who kept dragging my heels in this, remember?” Mokuba laughed weakly.

During the last eight months, both Roland and Pegasus had been advising him through each choice he had made that had eventually led them to today. At times he’d been doubtful,- sometimes reluctant,- to do as advised, but they never went against the decisions he made and were transparent with him at all times.

“I think we’ve lost contact with him,” Pegasus stated when no reply came from Roland whose body cam now showed he was exiting the elevator at basement level.

They all watched as Roland made his way past the laundry room and was soon looking through the glass wall where the fleet of a dozen luxury cars were displayed. Most were various shades of blue/grey/silver/white, with only a yellow Lamborghini and a red Ferrari standing out amongst them.

“Nice cars,” Yugi commented. “No sign of your brother though.”

“Then he _must_ be in the lab… Or maybe I was wrong and he’s still up in the mansion..?”

“I guess we’re about to find out,” Pegasus announced as Roland keyed in a passcode,- 23995346,- on the laboratory door’s security panel and was granted entry.

Practically sitting on the edge of his seat, Mokuba watched as Roland slowly inched further into the room. The gun-like taser was drawn so close to the man’s body that its tip blocked part of the camera’s visual field each time he moved.

“There he is!” Mokuba gasped as the back of his brother’s head and chair came into view. “I wonder what he’s working on?”

Pegasus squinted as he tried to make out the messy diagram and scribbles displayed on the monitors. “I could be wrong, but I ‘think’ that says ’Space Elevator’..? What could possibly be going through his mind to come up with something like that?”

“He wanted to be an astronaut when he younger, so maybe he’s planing on,-…” Mokuba’s voice caught in his throat as his brother suddenly stood and turned to face Roland. He could feel his heart ache from seeing the sorry-looking sight that his eyes viewed; his brother wearing nothing more than a pair of underpants and an open shirt that exposed a heavily scarred and under-nourished torso, along with a face so gaunt that it almost looked lifeless. _What happened to you, Seto? Why did you do this to yourself?_

As the taser was pointed his way, the tablet pen in Kaiba’s hand was angrily thrown to a side and his face contorted in rage as he shouted at the intruder…

“Why can’t I hear what’s being said?” Mokuba asked as he frantically pushed at the controls to increase the volume to the maximum level.

“I would guess it has something to do with Isono’s microphone being connected to his communications link,” Pegasus suggested. “This must have been what was meant when last he spoke; we’d lose audio, but still have visuals.”

“Kaiba looks furious,” Yugi noted out loud. “Do you think he’s been told what’s planned for him?”

“Quite possibly,” Pegasus admitted. “Though I presumed the subject would have been raised a little bit more subtly than being announced outright,-“

“HOLY SHIT!” Mokuba exclaimed at seeing the taser suddenly fired.

The barbs had shot out of the barrel at high speed, missed his brother by mere millimetres as he twisted to the side, and pierced one of the monitor screens instead. Concern was felt for both Roland and his brother as electric sparks flew in all directions, but that same concern soon became conflicted as the two men engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

“I CAN’T watch this!” the teen cried and scrambled over Yugi so he could exit the surveillance van.

Once outside in the open air, Mokuba tried to catch his breath. He felt shaken from what he had seen; two people he held dear,- who held each other dear,- fighting like enemies, partially because of decisions he had made. _This shouldn’t be happening. I shouldn’t have allowed for things to get so bad! Why did I even think it would be a good idea to fight fire with fire in the first place?_

His thoughts turned back to when he’d first chosen to make a stand against his brother. It had been in the direct aftermath of the break-up with Kisara, were each word to leave the other’s mouth was nothing more than an angry repellent to keep others away. He’d held strong at first but, crumbled when the words turned purposely cruel and offensive,- as opposed to the defensive nature which they had started,- and in turn, delivered back his own cutting words.

At the time it had felt like the only way to get through to his brother, though now he realised it had had little effect at all. Neither had taking control of Kaiba Corp to allow his brother the time and freedom to work things out on his own. In fact that had only made matters so much worse. _I made a mess of everything… But I’m GOING to put this right! First, I need to stop all this._

His eyes narrowed on the mansion beyond the gated boundary wall. Aware that he wouldn’t be able to use the com-link to contact Roland whilst still down in the basement, Mokuba knew his only other option was to inform him directly. He passed through the large iron gates and began to sprint up the long driveway, unaware of Yugi stepping out of the surveillance van now behind him.

“Mokuba!”

Feet repeatedly pounded the ground as the teen raced towards the mansion. His brother wasn’t entirely lost. He could still reason with, and save him, without the need for institutionalising against his will. He’d developed a thicker skin to cruel remarks since then last time they’d spoken and would not give up so easily again. His brother’s words had just been that; words. He wasn’t hated like he’d feared. The fact his bedroom remained protected and in pristine condition, instead of having been reclaimed or trashed, was proof enough. _Seto would have wasted no time in destroying any trace of me ever being there if he truly didn’t want to reconnect… I won’t abandon you bro, not now, not ever!_

Almost there, Mokuba’s pace slowed and he came to a stop where the driveway spread out across the entire length of the mansion’s front. Parked before him were several cars in which Roland and the teams had arrived, a riot van to hold any of his brother’s ‘guests’ if they got out of hand, and an unmarked psychiatric ambulance waiting to take his brother away. He felt a sense of dread beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. _What if I’m too late to fix this? Seto will disown me for real this time when he finds out what was planned!…_

“Mokuba!”

He turned at hearing his name called and saw Yugi running towards him. This was just what he needed; a friend to help lift the confusion and provide solace. “I _CAN’T_ do it! I can’t do this to him! He’s my brother, I _can’t_ b-betray him like this. I don’t w-want him to h-hate me.”

“It’s not betrayal,” Yugi panted as he came to a stop beside his friend failing to hold back tears. “Your brother needs help, much more than you or I,- or Pegasus or Roland,- could ever give him…”

_What?!_ Mokuba was now even more confused as he struggled to make sense of his friend’s altered stance on the matter. _He questioned my initial decision earlier, so why isn’t he giving support or approval for my change of plan?_

“… I understand it’s hard to carry through with such a difficult and heart-wrenching decision, but I believe you made the right choice by ensuring he is given all the professional help that he needs. Your brother **_will_** get through this,-“

“Y-y-you don’t know that. Y-you can’t promise that!” Mokuba stammered as he shook his head and sent tears flying in all directions. Why wasn’t his friend standing by him? Inside he felt a storm of emotions raging like a cyclone and let it free without warning, “ _WHO_ are _YOU_ to tell _ME_ what to do?!!”

Yugi had already steeled himself for such a reaction,- his young friend was still a Kaiba after all,- and remained calm as the troubled teen leered down at him. “I feel your frustration, Mokuba. I really do,-”

“ _HOW_ could you?!”

Again he remained calm under the scrutiny of those narrowed grey eyes. “Much like the ceremonial duel I had with Atem, _you_ have to do what is best for your brother, no matter how arduous on your conscience it may feel. Believe in yourself, in your judgement, and help him proceed back into the light where he rightfully belongs.”

The comparison hit home with Mokuba and he felt the storm inside him subside. He hadn’t thought of the situation quite like that and now had a better understanding of his friend’s outlook on it all. “Yugi, I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Fear and anger are strong emotions,” Yugi simpered with compassion and gave his friend what he felt was a much-needed hug. “You’re not alone Mokuba. And neither is your brother. When he realises that, I’m certain he’ll make a full recovery.”

“You really think so?” Mokuba asked as he leant down a little further into the hug.

“I do. It’ll take time though, it’s not going to happen overnight.”

“But you’ll be there for me, if… I mean, ‘when’ I need you?”

“Always.”

Slowly, the surveillance van entered through the gates, drove along the driveway and stopped right beside the two friends breaking apart from their embrace. The side door slid open and Pegasus stepped out. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I just… lost my nerve for a moment,” Mokuba kept his explanation brief. “I’m fine now though.”

Judging from the response he was given, Pegasus knew Yugi had done a good job of consoling the teen. “You’ll be glad to know that it’s almost over. Isono succeeded with his task of apprehending your brother, and is escorting him up from the laboratory as we speak.”

Mokuba simply nodded to confirm that he’d heard what had been said.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Pegasus asked, the silence now making him somewhat slightly unconvinced of what he’d been told just a moment ago. “It’s not too late to halt things if that’s what you truly want.”

“It’s not about what I want, it’s about what Seto needs,” Mokuba stated flatly. His eyes glazed as he watched the crew of the psychiatric ambulance prepare for their patient. Whilst the nurse measured sedatives in a syringe, the assistant readied the restraints of the trolley bed.

Yugi turned to Pegasus, “How long will Kaiba be institutionalised for?” he quietly inquired.

“I don’t know,” Pegasus admitted honestly. “It would all depend upon a string of assessments to determine his mental state, and what type of/how much care is required. Then there’s the factor of whether or not he’ll co-operate throughout the whole thing. I imagine it would be _at least_ several months before his release is even considered.”

“And what about his absence during that time?” Yugi continued. “People are going to start speculating when he hasn’t been seen for a while.”

“Don’t fret, Yugi-boy. A cover story will-“

“LET GO OF ME, YOU PERFIDIOUS BASTARD!!” The sound of the outraged scream was heard well and clear before the mansion’s front door had even been opened. It drew the trio’s attention and they watched Kaiba literally being dragged kicking and screaming from inside his own home.

“Seto.” Mokuba whimpered as his brother struggled in a rear arm lock hold.

“ _KUSO YARO!!_ ” Kaiba tried to throw his captor over himself as he slammed back into him, but just couldn’t build up enough leverage needed to succeed. “Grrr, I make you pay for this, Isono!”

Roland knew better than to retaliate in response to the other’s angry words and simply continued to haul him towards the unmarked ambulance. Despite his captive’s weaker visual appearance, there was still plenty of physical strength making it a strenuous task to overpower him. With any luck, the other would wear himself out soon with all the resistance going on.

“I WILL NOT be placed in some mental asylum!” Kaiba made another forceful attempt to break free from his hold which resulted in him almost dislocating his shoulder in the process. It was no good though, Roland’s incarcerating clasp was just too strong.

“You won’t be confined to an asylum, you’ll be staying with me, on my island.” Pegasus informed as if it would somehow make the situation better.

Kaiba looked in the direction of where the familiar voice had come from and sneered, “ _Heh_ , I should have known the _CUCKOO_ and the _YANK_ would be behind all of this!” his voice was coarse from screaming but wasn’t any less malicious as he glared at the trio of traitors staring back at him. “I expected better from you though, Muto. Then again, you had no qualms sending _OUR_ friend to his demise. **_FUCK YOU_** and your FAKE friendship!-”

“Can you hurry up and sedate him already?!” Roland yelled at the nurse as he struggled to keep ahold of the infuriated man trying to break free and start a fight.

“Hold him still.” The nurse instructed as he tried to get close enough to carry out the task.

More struggling occurred as Kaiba spotted the syringe in the other’s hand. His eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth, “You’re NOT jabbing that in me!”

“Actually, ‘yes’ they are!” Roland let a frustrated retort slip. He was exhausted and not sure of just how much longer he could keep ahold. “I’m sorry, Seto,” he apologised earnestly before summoning what strength he had left and forced his friend face-first against the side of the ambulance.

“FUCKING CUNT!” Kaiba roared angrily with a freshly split lip. Roland’s bodyweight held him in place whilst the nurse sank the needle into his arm. “I’ll kill you! I’LL KILL _EVERY LAST_ ** _FUCKING_ ONE OF YOU!!!**“

Mokuba fidgeted uncomfortably where he stood, shifting from one foot to the other. The whole thing was extremely distressing and he wanted it to stop, Now. _No, I gotta stay strong. This is the endgame, it’ll be over with soon enough._

With the sedatives now administered, the nurse was quick to draw back from his patient. “They should start to take effect in a few seconds.”

“Good,” Roland panted and let go of the arms that were already bruising from the firm hold he’d had on them. He backed away to allow the other plenty of room to thrash and flail.

Instead, Kaiba staggered a few steps from the high-sided vehicle, sank down to his knees on the gravel and dirt, and eventually ended up on all fours. He stared at the ground, eyes wide, face dripping with sweat whilst breathing heavily as he watched a tiny puddle of blood form on the driveway. _WHY did this happen? WHY didn’t they just stay away? WHY did they feel the need to form a pack and hunt me down like this? Why?…_

_‘Hey, there mister…’_

Kaiba slowly raised his head to see an apparition of his younger self crouching down in front of him. The small boy studied him curiously as he leant on the soccer ball clutched close in his lap.

_‘Are you okay?’_

“No… I’m **_not_ **okay,” he answered weakly, aware that he could no longer keep on lying to himself. How had it come to this? Why had he let things get so out of hand and been so reluctant to fix them? He felt ashamed of himself and all he had become. “Get out of here, _Go!_ ”

Obediently following the instruction, his younger self stood up straight, failing to keep ahold of the ball and it slipped free from his hands. It was now that Kaiba could see it wasn’t a soccer ball at all, but was in fact the spherical puzzle of his heart. How he knew that it was his heart, he had no idea. Perhaps because many of the pieces were dented, cracked and chipped, just like him?

As though watching in slow-motion,- and helpless to intervene,- the puzzle shattered as it hit the driveway. “ ** _Nooooooo!_** ” Kaiba scrambled to collect as many pieces as possible before they sank beneath the ground.

“What’s going on?” Yugi asked Pegasus nervously as they saw Kaiba talking to thin air before screaming and desperately clawing at the dirt with his hands.

“He seems to be hallucinating. Most likely a side effect of the sedatives mixing with whatever substances already in his system.”

Mokuba couldn’t bear to see his brother in such a state any longer, “Seto!” he cried as he stepped closer, and froze as the other’s wide-eyed gaze turned to fix upon him.

“Stay back.” Roland placed an outstretched arm in his young boss’ path for precautionary measures. If required, he wouldn’t hesitate to fully place himself between them. He needn’t have worried though as Kaiba remained where he knelt instead of carrying out the threat from just a few moments ago.

“M-m-my heart… it’s… b-b-b-b-bro-k-k-ken…!”

“We know, Seto.” Mokuba’s frown quivered as he fought back the urge to cry at seeing his brother dissolve into tears before him. “We’ve been trying to help you this whole time, but you wouldn’t let us-”

“I’ve _GOT to_ fix it!” The scratching at the driveway became more frenzied though no progress was made with shifting the dirt.

“You won’t find anything down there, Mr Kaiba.” the nurse assured as he and his assistant each lifted their patient by placing their arms under his. “Come with us, we’ll help you to get well again.”

“No! No, no, no!” The objection was made with arms flailing wildly, but Kaiba’s strength was now not much stronger than that of a newborn baby. “I need all the pieces!… Let go of me! LET GO OF ME!!”

All four onlookers found it excruciatingly uncomfortable to watch as Kaiba was hauled into the psychiatric ambulance against his will. Tears, distraught screams and feeble attempts of physical protest continued but failed to stop him from being placed on the trolley were he was then securely restrained to prevent him from thrashing around and causing any further injury.

“RELEASE ME THIS INSTANT!!”

Ignoring their patient’s demand, the nurse and his assistant exited the back of the vehicle and closed the doors.

“ **RELEASE ME!!** RELEASE ME! Release me!... _Release_ … m-me…” Kaiba’s screams eventually became nothing more than a weak mumble as the sedatives took a greater effect of subduing him. He lay there, alone and paralysed with nothing more than the faint sound of Gozaburo’s laughter inside his semi-conscious head.

A driving motion was felt as the ambulance left his home. In all honesty, he would have preferred death. There was no point in reforming. He could never atone for the things said and done. It wasn’t like he had anything left to live for anyway. His company was gone, everyone hated him… At least in death, he would finally be at peace, free from inner torment and suffering.

The laughter magnified into a booming chortle.

_‘You made your bed, Seto, now_ **_rot_ ** _in it!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally planned to be just 14 chapters long, but if there’s interest in seeing more, I will add an epilogue. Just let me know if it’s wanted ^^


	15. Since I Saw You Last

Mokuba stood in Domino’s airport, gazing out of the windows as he watched the huge commercial jets taxing along the runways towards their terminals. He was aware one of those planes had arrived from San Francisco and that it carried his brother and Pegasus amongst the passengers on board. 

How long had it been since he’d last seen them in person? A year? More? A quick calculation in his head revealed that it was close to 15 months since the raid on the Kaiba mansion which had resulted in his brother being forcefully institutionalised by his command. 

His stomach somersaulted at the memory of that difficult day. It had been a heart-wrenching decision to make, but one that had paid off and helped pull his brother back from the darkness of despair. Or at least that was what Pegasus had assured him, as he’d yet to actually interact with his brother for himself. _I hope he doesn’t hate me for what I did…_

“Mokuba Kaiba!” 

The familiar stern voice of his brother sounded behind him, and Mokuba turned to see the duo he’d been there to greet standing just a few metres away.

“Who gave you permission to grow so tall?” A soft smile materialised on Kaiba’s face.

Happiness filled Mokuba’s heart; his brother looked so much healthier than the last time he’d seen him. The genuine smile he saw also suggested there were no ill feelings being harboured. “Welcome home, Seto.”

The two brothers came to stand opposite each other. It was a bit of a weird feeling now that the height difference between them was only a few inches instead of a couple of feet. There was also a weird sense of just how they should greet each other further. Were they too old/grown apart for hugs? Was a handshake too formal? Would a clasp on the shoulder be a perfect balance?

Kaiba was the one to make the next move as he stepped forward and pulled Mokuba into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry… for everything. I’m so, so, sorry,” he apologised before burying his head in his brother’s shoulder and began to cry.

“Me too,” Mokuba teared up as he spoke and hugged his shuddering brother tightly. Things could have turned out disastrously for them, but there was no hate or resentment for how each had treated the other during his sibling’s breakdown. 

Pegasus smiled whilst he watched from the sidelines as he gave the brothers space for their emotional reunion. Things had been far from easy to get them this far.

The first four months of Kaiba being institutionalised on his island had been particularly unpleasant. He’d witnessed his friend forced to go cold turkey and had found himself the recipient of many angry outbursts, both verbal and physical. By five months Kaiba had mellowed a little yet still refused any psychiatric help offered. Eight months in finally saw some progress made as the other began to comply, opened up, and was diagnosed with BPD soon after. It had then been another couple of months before Kaiba’s self-acceptance of his diagnosis. But since then, things had really improved for the better…

Of course Pegasus knew that Kaiba still had a sizeable recovery ahead of him, something the other was sure to achieve with combined medication and therapy to help manage his illness from now on. And it was all thanks to Mokuba’s trust and belief in the advice he’d provided which had made such a turnaround possible. 

* * *

“We could renovate the place…” Mokuba suggested as the two brothers stood in the entrance hall of their mansion which had not been lived in since before his brother had been institutionalised. “Maybe, knock down another wing if that would help?”

Kaiba silently shook his head in disagreement as he glanced around the huge open space. Even on the first day Gozaburo had brought them both here, he hadn’t felt as small and overwhelmed as he did now. His eyes came to rest on the bullet hole in the wall which he’d accidentally caused a couple of years back. “There’s too many memories. A lot of them I would rather forget.”

Pegasus had warned the younger brother that the other might not want to settle back in the mansion, so Mokuba wasn’t shocked by the reluctantly at all, especially since it wasn’t uncommon for his brother to want to destroy elements of their past in order to move forward. “So what’s the alternative? You wanna knock the whole thing down and rebuild?”

“No.” Kaiba had finally come to realise that destruction had never solved things for him in the past, and he had no reason to believe it would anytime soon either. “There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the mansion itself, it’s just not for ‘us’ anymore… We’ll move out and find someplace else to live… That is, unless you already have,- or would prefer,- a place of your own?”

“As amazing as the Mutos have been for letting me live with them, I’ve _really_ been looking forward to moving back in with my ‘slightly taller’ big bro.” Mokuba smiled, unable to resist making the playful tease and received an amused smirk as his reward. “So… if we’re moving on, I take it we’re selling this place?”

“That’s not quite what I had in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of donating it to the city on the grounds it is used for something Domino is in need of.” 

“Like what exactly?” 

Kaiba gave a shrug of uncertainty. “Refuge for the homeless? Hospice? Rehab centre? Psychiatric hospital?… Something that will benefit those who are vulnerable, overlooked or ignored, and in need of the most help.”

A proud smile graced Mokuba’s face. “Is this part of that big plan of yours?”

“Plan?”

_Oops!_ Mokuba chagrinned at having accidentally let the cat out of the bag. It was too late now, he owed an explanation to the confused face staring at him. “When I spoke with him last month, Pegasus let slip that you’ve been working on some kind of secret project. He wouldn’t say what it was exactly, but described it as ’an aspiring goal’ for you to ‘focus on and achieve’… Is it not connected to that?”

“No, it’s… something else.” Kaiba wasn’t at all annoyed with what had been said but was a little hesitant to share details. 

“It’s not a space elevator, is it?” Mokuba comically frowned. “Because honestly, that idea is-“

“Dumb?” 

“I was going to say ‘overly eccentric’, but if you’re okay with describing it as such, I guess ‘dumb’ works too.” Mokuba mimicked his brother’s soft laughter.

“It’s not a space elevator,” Kaiba assured with an amused grin still in place. “It’s more down-to-earth than that. And it’s _not_ going to be kept as a big secretive project either. It’s simply in an early conception stage at the moment, but I will tell you what it is if you truly want to know.-”

“Of course I do!” the teen blurted out rather enthusiastically. He then tried to regain some composure. “I mean, ‘yes’, I’d like to know what this aspiring goal of yours is.”

Another smile at seeing the excitement sparkling in those grey eyes level with his own. His brother may have grown by an unbelievable amount, but that joyful temperament hadn’t changed at all. “I plan on building an academy that specialises in teaching its students all about Duel Monsters. There they will learn _everything_ required to become a pro duelist.”

“That sounds so cool.” Mokuba’s grin grew even wider. Already he could see the change in his brother’s newly acquired attitude, yet his obsession with the game hadn’t wavered in the slightest; he should have known a future goal would involve it somehow. “I bet it’s going to be a _huge_ success.”

* * *

The Kaiba Dome was at full capacity as 50,000 people had gathered to see the rematch they’d all been waiting for. Seto Kaiba Vs Yugi Muto; two of Duel Monsters greatest duelists. But just who would be the victor? 

Both duelists used revamped decks which featured unseen cards and introduced a new summoning method,- synchro,- via a newly designed and sleeker-looking duel disk. For nearly an hour they duelled, each giving it their all. Eventually though, one of them won out…

“You made them _BOTH_ new cards?!” Mokuba exclaimed as he sat in the control room with Pegasus as they watched the duel play out.

“Of course. It would have been extremely unfair to produce the support cards for your brother’s dragons and expect Yugi-boy to go without.”

“He has a whole bunch of ‘new’ Magician Girls now, I don’t see _why_ you had to make him ‘that’ card!” A finger was forcefully pointed towards Exodia the Legendary Defender as it tore through his brother’s Giant Germ, thus winning the duel despite the remaining life points and two powerful dragons on the field. “It’s way too OP!”

“I assure you Moku-boy, both decks are balanced. Whilst Yugi had to stall until the time was right to be able to play such a card, your brother was able to swarm the field at practically every turn.”

“Yeah, but… he still lost.”

“Only by a _very_ thin margin.” Pegasus studied the teen’s saddened face. “You don’t need to worry. Your brother’s a changed man, he can handle this… Besides, the duel and its outcome isn’t this evening’s focal point. He has something else up his sleeve that the crowd is bound to go crazy for.”

_He does?_ Mokuba wasn’t sure what had been planned as he continued to stare at his brother kneeling on the stage in defeat. The only thing he could remotely think of that might excite the crowd to such a level was the announcement of the duel academy. But since he knew that to still be in the very early stages, he doubted as such. _Just what are you up to, Seto?_

Down on centre stage, the winner made his way towards his rival. “Hey, um… you okay?” Yugi asked nervously as he now stood over the other whose bangs were obstructing his face.

“I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed,” Kaiba assured before he cracked a wide smile and looked up at the victor before him. “Good game. That’s the most fun I’ve had in years.”

“You certainly kept me on my toes.” Yugi offered his hand to help the other up. “Those support cards and that new dragon of yours are amazing!”

“I guess those Magician Girls of yours aren’t too shabby either,” Kaiba admitted as he took hold of the offered hand and rose back up onto his feet. “Your winning monster, however… let's just say, I’ll be glad to _never_ see another Exodia card for as long as I live.”

An exchange of laughter was shared between the two friends. 

“Are you ready for the next part?” 

“Not particularly,” Yugi grimaced. Although they were currently being watched by thousands of spectators, it was only when faced with looking out amongst them that he felt uncomfortable.

“I’ll make it swift.” Once Kaiba had received a nod of approval, he reactivated the mic on his lapel. “Everybody here in the stadium tonight, let’s have a big cheer for the undefeated King of Games: _Yugi Muto!_ ”

The whole stadium whooped, clapped and cheered for the winning duelist.

“Th-th-th-thanks.” Yugi stammered as he sheepishly waved at the crowd.

Noticing the other’s growing discomfort, Kaiba gestured towards the nearest stage exit for Yugi to take whilst he worked on gaining back the crowd’s attention for the final phase. “He’s a tough opponent to beat, that’s for sure… but he _can’t_ hold that title forever. Maybe one day I’ll succeed in claiming it for myself. Or perhaps there’s an aspiring duelist amongst you all here in the stadium who will step up to the challenge before I get that chance to do so? 

“One thing’s for certain; the _only_ way to achieve such victory will be with a _Kaiba Corp Duel Disk!_ You’ve marvelled at the wonders of the 2.0 this evening, and in just a month’s time, _you too_ will be able to own the latest tech my company has to offer! 

“But that’s not all… No launch of an improved duel system would be complete without new cards, _some_ of which you have witnessed here this evening! Without further ado, here’s a look at just what you can expect in the very near future…” Kaiba cancelled his mic once more and the lights turned off to plunge the stage into darkness. _Okay, this is it. I hope you’re watching wherever you are._

Looking directly up above him, Kaiba saw the 3Dimensional holographic commercial projected in the air for all to see. The new booster set’s title,- Dawning New Era,- was displayed and a happily chirping Kuriboh bounced along each word before sprouting a pair of wings and flew out towards the audience. 

In the winged fluffball’s wake, an army consisting of a brand new archetype,- Elemental Hero,- burst onto the scene. Several of the warrior type monsters fused together to create new monsters. The warriors then de-fused and re-fused with different members of their archetype to make even more fusion monsters, thereby demonstrating the diversity to be had with its many combinations.

Union monsters V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult were next on the scene. As well as their own unique fusion monster, it could also combine with the previously released XYZ Dragon Cannon to form a mighty mechanical menace that was a force to be reckoned with.

The Apple and Lemon Magician Girls materialised in a shower of sparkles and then summoned the Berry, Kiwi, Chocolate, and Dark Magician Girls to team up and vanquish VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon. They then made way for the newly added tuner and synchro monsters.

Goyo Guardian, Gravity Warrior, and Red Wyvern momentarily held the spotlight amongst the fresh batch before the incredible Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon stole centre stage. Beneath the dragon, the Master, Priestess, Protector and Sage With Eyes of Blue made their appearances… (the Maiden reserved for Kaiba’s deck only)

Confused murmurs began to hum throughout the stadium as the duel monsters’ images faded from view. What would be the point of releasing monsters that specifically provided support for a card which was unobtainable to them? Blue-Eyes White Dragon was Seto Kaiba’s monster and his alone. Unless…?

Lightning started to crackle and form in the darkened space. 

Kaiba reactivated his mic. “How many of you will welcome this truly majestic creature into your deck? She’s served me well, and will soon provide widespread aid. Please give it up for one of the game’s strongest cards as she’s about to make her general release debut, the _Blue-Eyes White Dragon!_ ”

Before long, his faithful dragon made her appearance and let out a fierce roar that caused immense excitement in the crowd of 50,000. Worshipped and adored, she would soon aid her power to those duelists in need of it. No longer would she be confined to the stone tablet and a sole deck, but free to roam wherever she pleased via the many decks her card would soon become a part of. 

It wasn’t the complete fulfilment of his ancestor’s prophecy, but it was a start; Kaiba’s peace and acceptance of the concept of destiny which he would no longer fight or deny. Whatever would be, would be, so who was he to worry or intervene?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, especially those who took the time to leave kudos and/or comments :)  
> *cwtch*  
> KG
> 
> Music playlist for this fanfic:  
> * Come Undone - Robbie Williams  
> * Falls On Me - Eric Stuart Band  
> * Cannonball - Damien Rice  
> * Victims of Contingency - Epica  
> * Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi  
> * Used To - Daughtry  
> * Since I Saw You Last - Gary Barlow


End file.
